


Endgame

by tess1978



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3, Fallout 4
Genre: Anal, Bisexuality, Character Death, Eventual Smut, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Masturbation, Multi, Mutual Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Oral Sex, Polyamory, Sexual Tension, Shower Sex, Smut, Threesome - F/M/M, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-26 10:24:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 23,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6234913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tess1978/pseuds/tess1978
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The rise and fall of Arthur Maxson, from Squire to Elder, to a man alone in a room with nothing but his memories to remind him of all he has loved and lost. </p><p>Bring tissues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> If you are looking for a happy story, or pure smut, this is not the fic for you. It's not going to go well. Expect plenty of characters to perish along the way. I am not promising a happy ending. Or a happy beginning or middle. But, there will be happy moments mixed with the sad ones, and I think the end will make it worth it. I will update all characters and relationships as they occur, and there will be many. And there will be some smut mixed in too, because, you know, I can't help it. I like smut even more than I like angst.

The thumping was what woke him. The thumping was always what woke him. 

When Arthur Maxson came awake and opened his eyes, it was pitch dark in the small, windowless room where he slept. The old mattress dipped beneath him on rusted, ancient bedsprings as he sat up, rubbing his hands over his face. 

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Arthur sighed and reached for the string connected to the single, bare bulb in the room. Dim light flooded the room, making him blink while his eyes adjusted. Gradually the space came into focus. Single bed, a table and chair, a green trunk where he kept what few personal belongings he still had. 

He reached for the half full can of water sitting on the trunk and finished it off, wiping the bit that trickled down his beard away with the back of his hand. It was long now, almost to the collar of the dirty t-shirt he wore. 

He tossed the can in the bin in the corner and then stood and stretched the kinks out of his back. The bed was so bad that his back always hurt in the morning, making him feel much older than his twenty-two years. 

Arthur grimaced to himself. Today was the day. The decision had already been made; the caravan would be here today. But it was so hard to take the first step towards what he knew he had to do. 

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

The sound steeled his resolve. He reached for the scrap of leather he used to tie back his hair and tied the long, loose strands up on the top of his head out of the way. Then he sat down at the table and picked up his pencil, and began to write.

When the caravan came later that morning, he handed the sealed letter over, and when it left his hand, he said a silent goodbye to the last thing he still had from his old life. The only thing left he still held dear.


	2. The Lone Wanderer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All character, relationship and other tags will be added as they occur in the story to prevent spoilers.

When Arthur was ten years old, still smarting from his mother abandoning him, and not yet fully aware of the implications his name held for his future, a whirlwind entered his life. She breezed through the door of the Citadel, dressed in blue and trailed by a group of terrified scientists.

Her eyes snapped and sparkled, and her short black hair stood up when she rubbed it, her hands filthy with the remnants of the ghouls and Enclave soldiers she’d fought her way through to get there. 

It wasn’t until he was older that he learned that she was only nineteen years old that day, and her father had died before her eyes not hours earlier. But despite that, she’d led several scientists through dangerous tunnels from their project across the river, straight through to the front gate of the Citadel, and demanded entrance. 

She was in and out with increasing regularity after that, consulting with Elder Lyons and Sentinal Lyons, and the scribes, as they reviewed maps and terminals searching for something her father had insisted would be in a Vault.

One day when she was reviewing the terminal in the library, he crept around the corner to get a better look at her. She glanced over when she saw him, and pushed her chair away from the table and looked him up and down. 

“Hey, kid,” she said. 

“Hi.” he replied, swallowing nervously. 

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Squire Maxson, loyal servant of Steel. It is an honour to make your acquaintance.”

She snickered at his overly formal tone, then straightened her face, and stuck out her hand with a wink. I’m Eleanore. Loyal servant of… the Wasteland, I guess. They threw me out of the Vault. You can call me Ellen.”

“Yes Ma’am.” replied Arthur.

They chatted a little while longer, and then Sentinal Lyons appeared and shooed him away. He was half in love with Sarah, but by the time he was done talking to the Lone Wanderer, he was half in love with her, too.

***

The next time he saw Ellen, she was being carried in by two knights, near death from radiation poisoning.

He’d been sitting in the courtyard all day. Liberty Prime had been activated, and he’d watched as it thudded out of the Citadel. He could hear it as it slowly made its way to the Jefferson Memorial, and the blasts could be heard even where he sat listening. 

Finally, there had been silence. Over three hours of silence, and he spent that time training in the yard. He was nearly done for the day when the gates opened and she was carried in. 

She’d almost died that day, but the story going around was that she’d saved the wasteland in the process.

***

With the stories of the Lone Wanderer spreading throughout the Capital, in no small part due to the acclamation given to her over the radio by Three Dog, recruits began flooding the Citadel. Most were turned away, but a select few were admitted. 

Arthur paid them little heed, for the most part, but it was hard not to notice Danse. At well over six feet tall, he towered over most of the people there. Even Ellen had a hard time keeping her eyes off of him. 

Everywhere Danse went, Cutler was sure to follow. The man was unremarkable, next to his friend, but the bond was clear to anyone who looked. A brush of a hand here, a long look there. The two were inseparable. 

Arthur was a quiet child, but observant, and he watched them as they were promoted from recruits to initiates, and began their training. Ellen, the Lone Wanderer, took an interest in them as well, and before long, the three of them were fast friends. 

Nobody noticed the quiet kid with the notebooks, so he overheard the talk about the three of them, and their unusually close relationship. He wasn’t sure what that meant, though. He just knew that people thought their friendship was unusual. But since Ellen was the Lone Wanderer, nobody ever dared comment to her face. 

***

When Arthur was eleven, Elder Lyons died. 

Nobody was surprised, he was ill for quite a while. Arthur was proud of his mentor, Sarah Lyons, when she was named Elder in her father’s place. 

Plenty of people were surprised when Sarah died, less than six weeks later. 

Ellen found Arthur where he’d hidden. There was an abandoned washroom in a partially collapsed portion of the outer ring where he would often go to be alone. 

“She was your friend, wasn’t she?” Ellen asked. 

Arthur nodded. “She took care of me, she taught me things. Now, I’m all alone.” 

“I’m all alone too, kid.” Ellen wrapped her arm around his shoulders in a hug. “I’ll look after you.”

***

Ellen was as good as her word. She, along with Danse and Cutler, had been promoted to Knight by the first Elder Lyons shortly before his passing, and as such, Ellen was qualified to train him. And so Arthur Maxson began officially training under Knight MacKay, and unofficially training under Knights Danse and Cutler. The three of them took Arthur under their wings, and the boy was often seen trailing behind one of them as they worked in and around the Citadel.

He began accompanying them on short day patrols, trained with firearms with Danse, close combat with Cutler, and stealth tactics with Ellen. He was a very talented child, and showed a lot of aptitude in all facets of his training, as well as doing well in his science, mathematics, and history lessons.

One day while patrolling a nearby ruin, he found a wooden board with alternating black and white squares. Arthur showed it to Ellen, who explained it was a chess board, and when they arrived back in the Citadel, he insisted she show him how to play. 

That evening, Ellen taught Danse, Cutler, and Arthur how to play chess. Arthur took to it immediately, playing with anyone he could convince. But his natural strategic mind soon made it unpleasant for anyone who took him on, as he won almost every match. Soon the only ones left who would play him were Danse and Ellen, and they were the only ones who stood a chance. 

He showed great aptitude within the Brotherhood, and so Arthur was promoted to Initiate at the age of twelve. By that point, nobody remembered that Ellen had once been the Lone Wanderer. She was just Knight MacKay


	3. Scars

It was a grey, dreary day when thirteen year old Initiate Maxson, and Knights Danse and MacKay left the citadel and headed south. They stopped for lunch and were just starting to take out their meal rations when it happened.

The deathclaw must have been stalking them for a while, and it waited for them to pause before jumping them. It knocked Danse to the ground, but before it could attack, Ellen managed to get a few shots off into its leathery hide, and it turned its attention to her. 

Arthur and Danse jumped to their feet, armed with laser rifles, and began firing at the beast in hopes it would go after them again, and maybe the three of them would be able to finish it off. When it turned, Arthur ran left and Danse ran right, and the deathclaw headed towards Danse. But a moment later Arthur tripped over his pack, and the deathclaw turned its attention to him. He was the smallest out of the trio, and clearly vulnerable, and so the deathclaw set its sights and would not be deterred. Danse and Ellen continued to shoot at it, and the shots burned patches on its hide, but it was relentless as it stalked Arthur. 

Arthur’s weapon ran out of ammo as he lay there. He panicked for a moment, but then he remembered the knife at his belt. He grabbed it just as the beast slashed at him. He rolled away, but he was too slow, and he felt the fiery burn of its claw as it slashed his face from his forehead to his jaw, It picked him up, and Arthur peered at it through the blood pouring into his eye, and just as its mouth opened, he jammed his knife into its gaping mouth, and directly into its brain. 

He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

***

It was three days later when he woke up in the Citadel sickbay. Ellen was asleep in a chair near his bed. She shot awake when Arthur moved. Her face was lined with exhaustion but she stood immediately and came to his bedside. He tried to speak, but the pain in his face stopped him. He couldn’t see out of his right eye. He gingerly reached a fingertip to his face and touched bandages, and he hoped his eye was unharmed and it was just the bandage blocking his vision. 

“Don’t talk,” Ellen said. “Are you thirsty?” Arthur nodded, and she helped him sip carefully from a bottle of aqua pura. “We stitched you up as best we could in the field,” she told him. “But...you’re going to have a scar for the rest of your life. And… they’re promoting you to Knight.”

The corner of Arthur’s mouth turned down in a frown. He pointed at his left eye, and then his right.

“Your eye is fine,” Ellen reassured him. 

He closed his eyes in relief and relaxed back into bed. He was asleep again within seconds.

***

When he awoke again, he was alone, and there was yelling in the hall outside. It was Danse. 

“He’s been missing a week! Now let me get a team together or I am going to desert the Brotherhood and go out on my own.” 

“You have to let one of us go, he… they’re our Brothers. We need to find out their fate even if they can’t be rescued.” That was Ellen, her voice faded as the arguing party moved down the hallway away from sick bay. 

Ellen didn’t visit for almost a full day. 

When she did, she had a weary, distressed look on her face that Arthur suspected was not entirely due to his injury. He looked at her questioningly, and she sat down next to him.

“Cutler took a squad to clear out a nest of supermutants a week ago, and hasn’t returned. Danse has gone to look for him.”

***

Danse was never quite the same man again after he came back without Cutler. Before, he’d been a smiling man, quick to laugh or tell a joke, ruffling Arthur’s hair as they sat together over the chessboard. He always had a smile on his face as his brown eyes followed Ellen and Cutler whenever they were near, and he’d once seen him pick Ellen up and toss her over his shoulder, spinning her around before sliding her down his front and pressing his forehead to hers. He had released her, and then the two of them had joined Cutler who winked at them, and then draped an arm around Danse's waist just for a moment. 

After Cutler was gone, the fresh scar over his brow wasn't the only change to Danse's face. Now, Danse rarely smiled. His eyes still followed Ellen, but with a worried frown instead of a lighthearted smile. He stayed close by her when they were together, and Arthur sensed that whatever happened to Cutler had made Danse very afraid for the people he cared about. 

That circle seemed to include Arthur. 

Danse took even more care now with the boy, even though they were of equal rank, drilling him in combat and reminding him constantly about the dangers of the Wasteland in general and supermutants in particular. 

Eventually, Arthur asked Ellen what had happened, and she explained. When Danse found the hive, the supermutants had already slaughtered Cutler’s squad… all but Cutler himself. Cutler had been infected with the FEV, and when Danse arrived, he begged his friend to put him out of his misery. Danse had complied, and executed his oldest and closest friend and companion, before barely escaping the large nest himself. They were still, even several months later, holed up at that particular location.

Arthur’s opinion of his friend changed that day, and Arthur vowed to see his friend avenged, even if he had to clear out that den of mutants himself.

***

It was a promise he kept less than a year later, and his campaign against the supermutant Shepherd was what made him a Paladin just before he turned fifteen. 

It was clear by this point that Arthur Maxson was going to be leading the Brotherhood someday, as his former instructors, Danse and Ellen, became his subordinates, and he trained and led squads of soldiers older than himself. Four Elders had come and gone in the years since the two Lyons had passed, each more ineffective than the last. And so by the time Elder Murphy was killed by a small landslide of debris in an improperly maintained section of the building, Arthur was running the Brotherhood in practice if not in name. 

And so it was no surprise to anyone when Arthur became the Elder of the East Coast Brotherhood at the tender age of sixteen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The opening few chapters of this story were influenced by the story "Long Way Down" by Manic Intent, link below. I had already been plotting this story out before I read that, and the meat of my story comes later on but I wanted to give credit as that one unavoidably affected how I shaped the opening chapters. 
> 
> Please go read it, the events aren't the same, but it is a much more detailed and better version of this chapter as well as the next few.
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/5374487


	4. Transitions

Arthur and Danse sat over the chessboard in Arthur’s quarters, while Ellen sat nearby with a book, her black hair having grown long enough again to twine enticingly around her neck. 

It had only been six months since Arthur was named Elder and there were already drastic changes in the order. He had begun recruiting more from the wasteland, claiming that many hands made light work, and the extra recruits had been put to work on maintaining the Citadel’s defenses and walls, in order to prevent the sort of accident that had claimed the life of the previous Elder.

He had also begun work on a project that was going to take three years and a significant amount of material and labour to accomplish: an airship. Large enough to move their entire army if needed. 

But for that, he was going to need more people. 

“I’m assigning you to oversee Project Purity,” Arthur told Danse. “The Outcasts have been making moves that indicate they might be considering a takeover.”

“Do you want me to find them and finish them off?” Asked Danse.

“No. I want you to capture their leader and bring him to me. I’m bringing the Outcasts back into the fold.” Arthur looked at Danse across the table. “And I am promoting you to Paladin.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Danse.

“I should have done it sooner,” replied Arthur, looking at his friend and former mentor. He was telling the truth. He didn’t know why he’d delayed so long. Maybe it was because Danse was such a solid and unchanging part of Arthur’s life that he hadn’t really considered that as time passes, roles must evolve as well. He looked Danse up and down, taking in his strong form and familiar face with new eyes. He saw the thin scar Danse had acquired when he’d gone after Cutler, his thick black hair, and brown eyes. The sadness had never really left those eyes, although it seemed to have faded. 

It crossed Arthur’s mind to reach a hand out to Danse’s cheek, but he didn’t. Instead he turned back to the chessboard and moved a knight. 

“Check,” he said. No sign of his thoughts had shown on his face. 

Ellen stood up from where she sat nearby and went over to Danse and sat in his lap with a twinkle in her eye. She pressed a kiss to his lips. “Well, hello, Paladin,” she said. 

They left for the evening shortly thereafter, leaving Arthur alone in his room, with nothing but his thoughts and the image of his two best friends to keep him company

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is insanely short, but this is where the natural break fell. This part doesn't fit with the part before or after, so here it goes. I will probably post the next chapter right away though, since this is so tiny.


	5. Inappropriate

On his 18th birthday, Arthur stood in front of the mirror, razor in hand, and eyed his face skeptically. The deathclaw scar glowed, red still, against his skin. His cheeks still held the childish curve of youth, although his thick brow and height of just over six feet contradicted his youthful appearance. 

Danse’s mission with the Outcasts at Project Purity had been a success, and the other faction had been successfully reintegrated with the Brotherhood as a whole. Despite that, Danse had remained posted to the purifier, as it made a good base for operations on that side of the river, and there was nobody Arthur trusted more with that important outpost. 

They met once or twice a month, and Paladin Ellen MacKay worked often as the point of contact between the two when they weren’t able to meet. Although the Outcasts were no longer an issue, and construction on the airship which would one day be known as the Prydwen continued on schedule, a new threat had begun to concern Arthur.

It was just a few at first. Humanoid robots called synths had begun to appear in the Capital wasteland. Easily eliminated by the Brotherhood, they weren’t much of a threat at first. But recently a new type of synth had begun to appear, indistinguishable from humans. They had been around for years; Ellen had encountered one in Rivet City some time ago. It had escaped and a man from something called the Institute had come to retrieve it. 

The Brotherhood couldn’t let such an abomination continue to exist, whether independently or under the control of this Institute, and so both the synth infiltrator and the agent who was looking for it were eliminated. 

But recently, more and more synths were appearing. The escaped ones were hunted by coursers, specially trained synths designed to hunt down the escapees. They were guarded by the robotic versions, and nearly impossible to bring down. They were becoming a serious menace, and Arthur needed to decide what was to be done. 

But first he needed to shave. He looked at his face, bringing the straight razor up to his lathered chin. He paused, eying the soap that covered his face, including part of his scar. 

Maybe he should grow a beard.

***

Ellen breezed through the door several days later, making her way to Arthur’s office to give him her report. She closed the door behind her and then turned to face Arthur, who swung around in his chair to look at her. 

Her eyes widened at the sight of his thick stubble and she made a strange sound, before shaking her head and smiling at him. She sat down in the chair across from him. 

“There were two more coursers this month,” she told him. “We lost an initiate and Danse took an injury... A minor one. He didn’t have his helmet on,” she added when Arthur looked at her, concerned. He breathed a sigh of relief. 

“I believe I missed your birthday, too,” she said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of scotch. “This is from Danse,” she said. 

Arthur looked at it for a moment, then reached for the bottle. He cocked an eyebrow at her. “I don’t have any glasses in here,” he said. “But I have some in my quarters. Are you up for a game of chess?” He asked her.

She smiled at him and stood up.

***

Some three hours later, the bottle of scotch was half empty and a half finished game of chess sat abandoned on the table. Ellen and Arthur sat on the couch and wiped tears of laughter away as they reminisced about various missions and adventures from the past. 

“I remember the first time I saw you,” Ellen said. “Peeking around the corner. You were so serious.”

“The first time I saw you, you had your hair all stuck up and you were covered in bits of gore.” Arthur replied. “I think I like it better long.” He reached out one hand and twined a dark curl around his finger for a moment, luxuriating in the silky feel of it beneath his fingertips, before reluctantly letting it go.

Suddenly it was like the mood had changed in the room. The air became thick with something that wasn’t there before. Arthur’s eyes dropped from Ellen’s hair to her mouth, and he suddenly wondered what she tasted like. 

He blinked and turned away, suddenly aware of how close she was sitting to him on the couch. _This may be inappropriate,_ he thought to himself. _This is Ellen. Remember? As in Ellen and Danse? Think about Danse._

Strangely, thinking about Danse made things worse, rather than better. He gritted his teeth, and turned to Ellen. He was going to send her away, to her own room. 

Somehow, she’d moved even closer.

“I think you should go,” he whispered. 

She looked at him for a long moment. Arthur felt his heart beating almost painfully as time seemed to stretch into infinity. 

Eventually, she nodded, and clearing her throat, she stood to leave. He escorted her out the door. When she was gone, he closed his eyes and leaned back on the door. His stomach felt like it was in knots, and his heart was beating out of control. And his dick... 

He felt his face go red from his neck to his hair. 

_Not appropriate at all,_ he told himself, before heading to the shower.


	6. Rite of Passage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter that has the smut in it.

The next morning at breakfast, Arthur was reading a report when he felt the chair across from him move and looked up. Ellen plunked down in front of him and smiled. Arthur avoided her eyes and turned back to his paperwork. 

“Hi, Arthur,” she said. 

He grunted at her, but then thought better of his rudeness, and bit out, “Good morning.” He could feel his face flushing, and he gritted his spoon tighter and took a bite of his porridge. 

Maybe he should apologize. “I’m sorry for…” he began. Sorry for what? He didn’t want to say. “... for throwing you out. I was… tired,” he finished lamely. 

“I don’t need to head back until tomorrow afternoon,” she said. “Do you want to finish that bottle and our game tonight?”

He didn’t think his face could get any hotter than it already had been, but apparently he was wrong. “I don’t think that would be appropriate.” He said. “Danse-”

“I’ll worry about Danse,” she interrupted. “I’ll see you at nine.” 

With that, she stood up, and he was left staring after her with his mouth open. 

***

At nine o’clock, Arthur was pacing his quarters, alternating between sitting and standing, picking up the bottle of scotch and putting it back down again. When the knock finally came, his stomach was twisting uncomfortably and he felt like he might throw up.

He opened the door to see Ellen standing there in a soft yellow dress. He swallowed hard, and moved aside to let her pass. She walked over to the table and looked at the chessboard, which was still set up from the previous evening. 

“Do you want a drink?” Arthur asked.

Ellen nodded, and so he turned and poured her a glass, and then handed it to her. Her fingers felt like fire where they brushed his as she took the glass. She didn’t take her eyes off of his as she took a sip and then set the glass down on the table behind her. 

She regarded him for a minute, and then she asked, “Arthur, have you ever… been with a girl before?” 

He felt like his eyes were going to pop out of his head. He tried to speak, but no sound came out, so he just shook his head. 

She smiled slightly, and then rested her hands on his chest. She took a step closer. 

“What about… you and…” he tried. 

“I told you. Don’t worry about him. I’ve known Danse a long time, and I promise you, he’s not the sort of man who minds sharing.”

Arthur looked into her eyes, and she stepped closer still, her face turning up and her breath fanning across his jaw. He swallowed hard, and then he couldn’t do it any more. He couldn’t resist. He tilted his head down and placed his mouth on hers. 

The first thing he noticed was how soft her lips were, and the second thing he noticed was how they tasted faintly of the scotch she had just sipped. He slipped his tongue out and licked at her a little, and to his surprise she opened her mouth and sucked his tongue inside. He groaned and wrapped his arms around her, and then began licking at the inside of her mouth in earnest, unconsciously pressing her back towards the table. 

He could feel his cock hardening in his pants, and he pressed it against her belly, thrusting at her in the hopes of easing the sensation. He felt her hand slide down his stomach to the waistband of his pants, and then she unbuttoned his fly and slipped her fingers inside, pushing his underwear aside and wrapping around his cock.

He came suddenly and without warning, spurting into her hand and into his pants. He put his hand on the table behind her to brace himself, and let out a long, embarrassed moan. 

“Shhh...it’s ok…” she soothed him, pushing his face down into her shoulder and smoothing down his hair. 

“I just…” he took a deep breath and backed away from her. “I’m sorry..”

“It’s ok,” she said. “We can try again in a bit.” She looked around, and then pulled her hand out of his underwear and headed into the bathroom. He heard the water running and then a moment later she came back out again. She threw him the towel, and then went and sat down on the couch. He took the towel and went into the bathroom to clean himself up in private. He removed his underwear, but put his pants back on.

When he came back out, he looked over at Ellen sitting on his couch. She smiled at him, and then patted the couch next to her. He swallowed hard, and then went over and sat next to her. He looked at his hands. 

“It takes practice to learn self control.” She said. “Did you want to try again?” 

“Yes,” he whispered, and she took his face in her hands and kissed him gently on the mouth. 

He sat still as she straddled him, unsure of where to put his hands, but then she took him by the wrists and put his hands on her thighs, then pulled the skirt of her dress away so his hands were directly on her bare skin. He began stroking her legs, and she undulated against him, so that he grew hard again quickly. He realized it was different this time, not as urgent, and so he gained a little bit of confidence, and he ran his hands up her waist to the neckline of her dress, and started undoing the million little buttons that held it closed.

He finally got the top of her dress open, and then he slipped it off her shoulders and tentatively placed his hand on her breast. She made a little sound and rubbed against him harder, so he guessed that was ok, and squeezed her breast more firmly.

He wanted to get her bra off, so he reached behind her and tried to figure out how it opened. After a frustrating couple of minutes, she finally had mercy on him and reached behind her to undo it herself. He groaned as her breasts sprang free, and he didn’t hesitate as he put his hands up to see what they felt like.

They were soft and warm, and filled his hands just so, so he squeezed them, and put his face between them, and then closed his mouth around one nipple and sucked gently. She let out a low moan at that, so he sucked a little harder and then flicked the other nipple with his thumb. 

It must have been the right thing to do, as she began grinding into him more urgently. She began making a lot of noises after that, until suddenly she leaned back and looked at him from under hooded eyes, and stood up.

He waited with curiosity as she reached for the waistband of his pants and pulled them down to his knees, and then his eyes widened as she reached under her dress and dropped her underwear on the floor. And then she was in his lap again, her mouth on his, and her hand was between them, guiding him inside of her. 

Arthur couldn’t do anything but hold his breath as she rocked against him, working him deeper inside with every movement. He rested his hands on her hips and watched her face as she closed her eyes and undulated on his cock. Her eyes were closed and she had a pained look on her face, but then suddenly she threw back her head and cried out softly, and he felt her clenching around him. The sensation was like nothing he’d ever experienced before, and he braced his feet onto the floor and grasped her hips tightly thrusting up into her a few times before he came again, pouring into her with a low, desperate moan.


	7. The Other Shoe

Ellen stayed all night in Arthur’s room, but they didn’t get much sleep. In the morning she left to prepare for her trip back to the Jefferson Memorial, and he took her behind the wall of the firing range to kiss her one last time before she left. He didn’t know what she was going to do about Danse, but she’d asked him to trust her, so he did. 

***

She hadn’t been lying, as it happened. Three weeks later, Arthur was working in his office when Danse strode in and spun the other chair around and sat astride it, facing him. Arthur lifted an eyebrow at Danse’s unusual informality. They may have known each other for years, but Danse was nothing if not decorous. 

“So,” the Paladin began. “Ellen.”

Arthur waited for the other shoe to drop. He used every single ounce of self control he had to not react.

“She likes you. That’s ok. I’m ok with that. But if you hurt her, I’ll destroy you.”

Blue eyes met brown for a long minute, and then Arthur nodded curtly. 

Danse smiled. “So then. Chess tonight?” Without waiting for a response, Danse stood and strode out of the room.

***

As the construction of the Prydwen continued for the next nine months, the relationship between Arthur and Ellen developed, and she visited once or twice a week. And Danse continued to accept it, even approve, based on the limited conversation they had on the subject. Arthur hadn’t seen them both at the same time for months, however. So it was a rare treat indeed when both of them came through the front gates one afternoon.

It was surprisingly comfortable for Arthur to spend the evening playing chess in his quarters with his two oldest and best friends. They fell into their same old routine, only with the addition of a bottle of bourbon which Danse had procured. 

Danse had imbibed particularly heavily, and was sprawled on the couch with one arm over his eyes, when Ellen accepted defeat in the game and began putting the pieces away. Arthur leaned back in his chair and interlocked his fingers behind his head, watching her through lowered lashes. 

When she finished her task, she walked over to him and bent down to kiss him. Arthur blinked in surprise. He knew Danse knew, but it was a different thing with him in the room. He pushed her back and looked from her to Danse, slightly panicked.

Ellen chuckled low in her throat and kissed him again. “Don’t worry about him,” she said. And then she was on her knees in front of him, undoing his pants with her fingers. When her hot mouth enveloped him, he closed his eyes and lost himself to the feeling of her sucking him off, and wound his fingers tightly through her soft black hair. 

He looked up a few moments later, and his eyes met Danse’s from across the room. He didn’t have time to think what it meant before his testicles contracted and he was coming, and Ellen swallowed every drop and licked him clean. 

***

Danse and Ellen left for their own room that night, and Arthur laid awake in his bed for a long time. He had come to the slow realization that he was in love with Ellen. And suddenly the gossip about Danse, Ellen, and Cutler from years ago came into sudden clarity.

***

It was less than three months later when a courser took down Ellen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go ahead, let it allllll out...


	8. Airspace

She was on her way back to the Citadel when it happened. She was travelling with two knights, and wearing her power armour when they came across the party of synths. They managed to kill the courser, but it killed one of the knights and wounded Ellen. Her final shot killed it, but she was already bleeding out by that point, and the other knight’s efforts were not enough to staunch the bleeding. 

Arthur was waiting for her party and when the Knight walked through the doors alone, covered in blood, he knew. He sent a party out to retrieve the bodies, and sent a runner to the purifier to let Danse know. 

Arthur stood stoically when Danse burst through the Citadel gates that evening, and nobody made a move to stop him when he demanded to see her body. 

He stayed there the whole night and the next day. 

Arthur kept his Elder face on. He dealt with the issues that came up, ordered a scribe to bring Danse anything he needed and keep others away, and then he went to his room that night and cried harder than he had ever done in his life before.

Three days later, he stood before the assembled Brotherhood members in the Citadel courtyard, and said the eulogy for his best friend and lover, Ellen MacKay, the Lone Wanderer, and Paladin in the Brotherhood of Steel. Danse’s welcome strength was at his back. Her name will live on for eternity in the Scrolls.” He finished, and then repeated the words for the fallen Knight. 

They didn’t watch as the bodies were taken away for cremation.

***

Arthur and Danse sat listlessly in Arthur’s quarters that night. The room seemed so big and empty without Ellen in it. Neither of them seemed to have the words to say to express their grief, and so they sipped at a bottle of bourbon and looked blankly at the chessboard.

***

War never changes, and soldiers soldier on. Months passed, and Arthur and Danse were able to do their duty again like before. They spent time together when they could, bonding over their chessboard and bottles of this and that, and the sharp pain of grief dulled a little in each other’s company, as they were able to reminisce about Ellen and their unique relationship with her together. They began to talk more openly than they ever had before. 

The final touches were made on the airship, and the day finally arrived when it was to be launched into the sky. 

It was a breathtaking sight. Arthur felt his heart swell with pride as it ascended for the first time, and hovered above them, engines roaring. He felt Danse’s hand at his back in congratulations, and they smiled at each other, the first real smile in months, and then boarded the vertibird together to go step aboard for the first time. 

When Arthur Maxson stepped onto the Command Deck for the first time, it was like a piece of his soul clicked into place, and he looked out at the Capital Wasteland with pride. _Ellen would have loved this,_ he thought. And then he came to a decision.

He finished his tour of the vessel with Danse in tow, and then they took leave of Lancer Captain Kells and retired to the Elder’s quarters on board. 

They were smaller than his comfortable suite in the Citadel, but to Arthur, the room already felt like home. It was outfitted with a double bed, a desk with terminal, table, chairs, a dresser, and a very small ensuite. 

Arthur poured Danse a drink, and they both sat down. 

“The first mission for this vessel is clear,” Arthur told Danse. We need to go to the Commonwealth, and seek out and destroy the Institute and all their synths and coursers. They’re quickly becoming the biggest threat, bigger than supermutants, ghouls. They must be stopped.”

Danse nodded. “Before we lose anyone else.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Their thoughts were on the past. 

Arthur sat looking at his drink. He squeezed his eyes shut but he couldn’t stop the tear that rolled slowly down his cheek and disappeared into his beard. “I just miss her so fucking much,” he whispered. Danse suddenly stood and came around the table. He kneeled down beside Arthur and wrapped his arms around him, like he’d sometimes done when Arthur was a child. Tears were in his eyes as well. 

They stayed like that for a long while.


	9. Placing Bets

Back on the ground, later that afternoon, Arthur sat in a meeting with all of his senior staff, and explained his plan. The Prydwen still needed at least three months of workups and procurement before it would be ready to go. In the meantime, a long range recon mission would be sent to the Commonwealth to gather intelligence. 

He turned to Paladin Danse. “I’d like you to head this mission up, although the decision is yours. I trust you and I know you have the best interests of the Brotherhood and the overall mission at heart.”

Danse sat quietly for a minute and then nodded. “Yes, sir. I will put a team together.”

The recon team Gladius was assembled and equipped over the next several weeks. It consisted of Paladin Danse, a field scribe, and five knights. It would take them several weeks to make the trek to the Commonwealth, and once they did, they were to set up long-range transmissions to allow for preparations for the main force to arrive. 

They had sent two previous recon missions over the past few years, and although one had returned successfully, the other was missing. Danse’s team would also have the side mission of determining their fate. 

The night before Gladius disembarked, Danse was in Arthur’s quarters in the Citadel, hunched over the chessboard like so many other nights. Danse eyed Arthur up and down. “Do you want to make this interesting?”

Arthur lifted an eyebrow. “How do you mean?” 

“You win, I give you that modded laser rifle.”

“Righteous Authority?” 

Danse nodded. 

“And if you win?”

“I get that sweet coat Teagan made for you.”

Arthur laughed. “You’re on,”

The game went on a good two and a half hours before ending in a draw. Arthur groaned as he got up and moved to the couch, looking at it with one eye shut. He was pretty tired, but he was not going to see Danse for months, and he was going to miss him. He wasn’t ready to let the night end just yet. 

A moment later, Danse flopped down beside him. They clinked their glasses together. Arthur groaned. “It was close. I almost had you a couple times. I thought for sure I was going to end up with your rifle.”

Danse chuckled. “And I thought for sure I was going to get you out of that coat.”

Arthur looked at the floor at the unintentional innuendo. He swallowed hard. He suddenly flashed back to Danse’s dark eyes watching him from across the room as Ellen’s head bobbed in his lap. It was still painful to remember Ellen, though, so he shook his head and got to his feet, heading to the table to grab the bottle. He held it up. “Another drink?” He asked.

Danse shook his head and stood as well. He rubbed the back of his neck. “No, I’d better go. I have a long day tomorrow.” He headed to the door. Arthur followed and reached to open it for him, but without warning, Danse’s hand hit the door and he slammed it back closed. He turned to Arthur.

Arthur looked at him questioningly. Suddenly, Danse’s hand rose up and rested on the back of Arthur’s neck, and he pulled him closer. He looked into Danse’s brown eyes, and blinked, and then Danse was kissing him, his tongue thrusting into Arthur’s mouth as if something had been pent up inside him for a long time. 

Although Arthur was caught by surprise, the naked passion brought to the surface feelings Arthur had long ignored, and a moment later, his hands were on the taller man’s face and he was pressing himself closer. 

It was over as quickly as it began, and Danse searched his eyes, for a moment, before stepping back. 

“In case I don’t see you again,” he whispered. And then he opened the door and was gone.


	10. Surviving Solo

“We have a radio report from Recon Squad Gladius,” the scribe announced. They were somewhere over what used to be known as Connecticut, and it had been over four months since Arthur had seen Danse. They had lost long range radio contact nearly a month ago, and Arthur had spent days pacing the Citadel in worry.

Finally, two days ago, they had set out for the Commonwealth. It was a week ahead of schedule, but Arthur was determined that if they didn’t hear from Danse he would take his whole goddamn army and find him himself.

Arthur’s shoulders sagged in relief once the scribe had departed from the Command deck. He turned to the windows and leaned on the railing and watched the scenery slowly roll past beneath. They were two days away. Two days away from retrieving Paladin Danse and then they could finally figure out what this was between them.

***

When Danse stepped onto the Command Deck, Arthur barely hesitated before stepping forward to embrace his friend, hugging him firmly and patting his back before stepping back and taking his hand in a brisk handshake and then letting him go. Arthur glanced briefly at the knight standing in the entryway before speaking.

“So, Paladin. I read your report, and I understand your mission has been difficult.”

“That’s correct, Sir,” replied Danse. “We lost over half our team. I did encounter a promising new recruit, however. Her name is Lena MacKenzie, and I took the liberty of promoting her to Initiate in the field.”

Arthur nodded. Given the long term nature of the recon mission, that was an acceptable practice. 

“So she helped you fight off some hostiles?” 

“Yes sir. She came out of nowhere. Her assistance was invaluable as we were overrun and Rhys had taken injury. After that, she accompanied me to retrieve a transmitter. The building was overrun with synths, and I wouldn’t have made it out of there alive.”

They chatted for a little while longer, and Danse explained how he had offered to sponsor her into the Brotherhood. Although she had declined at first, she came back two days later, having changed her mind. Since then, she’d been invaluable, working under Knight Rhys and Scribe Haylen on a variety of tasks.

“So why haven’t you brought her here?” Asked Arthur.

“I sent her on a special mission to scout out an area further north for any trace of the missing recon team. I will bring her up as soon as she returns.”

Arthur nodded. He straightened his back, and looked Danse up and down. His face was dirty, and he was wearing a grimy hood. His power armour had clearly seen better days. “Looks like you should bring your armour down to Ingram for some maintenance. I’m sure you’re in need of a shower and some fresh clothing. You’re dismissed.”

Danse saluted. “Ad victoriam, Elder”

“Ad victoriam, Paladin.” 

Danse turned to go. 

“And Paladin?” Said Arthur. “It’s good to have you back with us. I brought my chessboard…”

“It’s good to be back, sir. I’ll see you at eight.”

***

Arthur opened the door for Danse at precisely eight o’clock.

He poured them both a drink while Danse set up the board. His hand shook a little as he handed Danse the glass, thinking back to the night before he left for the Commonwealth. Danse was intent on his task and didn’t seem to notice.

Arthur sat in the seat across from Danse and they started playing. Arthur won most of the time, but Danse usually put up a good fight and was difficult to beat. But tonight, Danse seemed distracted, and Arthur beat him twice in short order. 

“Is there something on your mind?” Arthur asked. 

“Hm? No! I was just wondering if Lena plays chess, is all.” 

“Lena?” Asked Arthur.

“Yes, Lena. The recruit I told you about. She came from a Vault, you know.”

“Really?” Arthur was intrigued. He’d only known one other Vault dweller. 

It was like the floodgates opened, and Danse began to talk about Initiate MacKenzie. Arthur didn’t remember the last time he’d seen the other man so animated as he explained how she’d been cryogenically frozen since before the War, and was searching for her kidnapped son. 

“We believe he’s about ten now, and was taken to the Institute.” Danse explained how she’d somehow escaped the Vault and tracked down her son’s kidnapper, and killed him before she’d even met Danse at the police station. “She managed to get a brain implant from him, and then had it analyzed. It turns out they’ve been using teleportation which explains the unusual energy readings in the region.”

She also had a pretty good idea of where to find an escaped scientist who may be able to help them get in. But for that, they would need to head into the Glowing Sea, and they were too ill equipped for that kind of a mission until the Prydwen showed up. 

“Do you think she’ll be able to pull this off?” Arthur asked.

Danse nodded enthusiastically, and then began to list all of Lena’s attributes and capabilities, and Arthur listened to him go on, watching him from hooded eyes. Arthur's mind wandered a little as Danse talked, and he took a good look at Danse, noting a few new scrapes and what appeared to be a burn mark that hadn’t been there before. He noticed Danse’s hands, and wanted to see what would happen if he suddenly took Danse’s hand in his...

He had wanted to talk about what happened that last night at the Citadel, but he was starting to think that maybe he’d blown that whole thing way out of proportion. Otherwise, Danse would have said something instead of going on about this woman endlessly. He had to admit, she sounded astounding. But at the same time, Danse might be biased. 

As Arthur listened, he slowly came to the realization that Danse might just be in love with this woman, Lena. And with that realization came another, more painful thought: that Arthur’s own...situation… with Danse may have ended before it even began. 

And that was one of the most anguishing thoughts Arthur had ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been writing ahead on this so as to keep up a steady pace posting, but I am almost caught up right now. I am only one chapter ahead at this point, so the pace may slow a little. I'm loving all the comments and speculation so far. I don't want to spoil anything but please feel free to tell me what you think is going to happen.
> 
> Comments are really what keeps me going. And trust me you want to get to the end of this one.


	11. Priorities

The first time Arthur Maxson laid eyes on the sole survivor of Vault 111, his heart lurched in his chest and the first word that popped into his head was _Ellen._

The resemblance faded a bit on a second glance. She was clearly a different person. Lena was older than Ellen had been when she’d died, maybe in her early thirties, and she was a little shorter and a little more rounded through the belly and thighs, which were clearly defined in the ratty blue Vault suit she was wearing. Her hair was dark brown, roughly cut to her chin, and streaked with grime and filth. She had the same determined look in her eyes that Arthur remembered from the first time he’d seen Ellen, but there was sadness there too. 

She had returned from her mission with the missing Paladin Brandis in tow, and so Arthur promoted her to Knight without hesitation, and then he looked at Danse standing at her back and beaming with pride, and sighed. He decided he had better get to know this woman. So he asked her to sit down with him and talk.

As they chatted, and Arthur learned her story, he realized that she was going to be an invaluable asset to the Brotherhood. She’d escaped the Vault several months ago, and somehow survived and succeeded in the harsh new world she’d found herself in. And furthermore, she’d done more to locate the Institute in a few short months than anyone else had. So he vowed to her to use his resources to help her find her way into the Institute and to find her missing son. 

He observed Danse, standing nearby in his power armour. His attraction to her was unmistakeable. Arthur could see why, she was a very attractive woman. And judging by the glances she’d shot back at Danse, the feeling was mutual. He briefly worried that Danse was using this woman as a replacement for Ellen, but the concept had faded as they chatted, and the differences became more clear. 

The knight was much more serious than Ellen had been, and was better educated, having gone to a pre-war university rather than having been raised in the Vault. And where Ellen had been open, every emotion showing on her expressive face, Lena was much less so, leaving Arthur guessing. He supposed it was because of how long he’d known Ellen. He found himself hoping he would be able to get to know Lena better.

***

Arthur was finishing up some paperwork before bed when he heard the knock on his door. He opened it to find Danse standing there, dressed casually for bed. Arthur hadn’t been expecting him, but he stepped aside and ushered him in, closing the door behind him. Arthur stood facing Danse, and just waited. Danse had come for a reason; he would eventually say what it was. 

Arthur watched Danse, noting that he’d gotten a haircut at some point in the last few days, and generally looked much better than when the Prydwen had first arrived, but he still hadn’t shaved and so he had kind of a scruffy beard thing going on that Arthur liked. Danse was tapping his fingers on his thigh and avoiding Arthur’s eyes, so he wondered what was going on.

“So. Tell me what you think of Lena,” Danse finally spat out. 

“I think she’s fine, otherwise I wouldn’t have made her a knight.” Arthur took a small step closer to Danse, his eyes drawn to Danse’s hand, still tapping on the side of his thigh.

“I wasn’t talking about her performance, I meant personally. I want to know what you think, if you like her.”

Arthur looked at Danse, with his eyes narrowed. “Are you sleeping with her?”

“No! Well, we kissed once. When she came back from somewhere and was telling me about when she took that implant to be analyzed. I don’t know. She was crying and it just happened. But that was as far as it went. I didn’t want to take advantage of her for one thing. For another...well… I didn’t want to start anything with her until after I’d spoken with you.”

“Danse, it’s none of my business who you’re sleeping with. It doesn’t matter what I think.”

Danse stepped closer.“Yeah, actually, it does. You come first, Arthur. And if you don’t _like_ her, then I won’t pursue a relationship with her. She has to accept both of us, or neither of us.”

Arthur stood silently for a full minute trying to wrap his head around what Danse was saying. His heart was pounding in his chest. He leaned forward slightly and searched his eyes, trying to find some kind of clue. 

Finally Danse spoke, his voice lowered. “We have to sort out what is between us first.”

“What _is_ between us, Danse?” Arthur asked, his voice low too.

Danse took another step closer to Arthur. He tilted his face down close, and whispered, “Whatever you want.” 

Arthur hesitated… just for a second, and then he angled his face up to meet Danse’s mouth with his own. 

They kissed each other with two years worth of pent up emotions, and suddenly every doubt, every question he’d had since Danse had left was erased from his mind. He placed his hand on the back of Danse’s head, winding his fingers up through his thick hair, pulling him closer. “I want this,” he whispered.

His words seemed to unleash something in Danse, and he groaned loudly, deep in his chest, and turned Arthur, backing him up to the wall. Their tongues fought together, and Danse thrust his hips against him, letting him feel the bulge in his loose pants. Arthur met him with an answering move of his own, and soon they were both running their hands over each other, trying to make up for lost time by touching everything they could reach at once.

Before long, they had Danse’s shirt off over his head and Arthur was licking his nipple, while his hand roamed his abdomen, fingers twirling around his navel. Danse slid his hands down Arthur's back, cupping his ass hard, and then releasing him, and then reaching for the zipper of Arthur’s jumpsuit and unzipping it. 

He pushed the suit off over Arthur’s shoulders and down, low over his hips, and then he ran his fingers around the waistband of his underwear, slipping just his fingertip into the front, just above the bulge there. 

Arthur opened his eyes and saw Danse’s gaze burning into him, and he felt such a surge of affection that he felt like his heart was going to spill over with it. He didn’t take his eyes off Danse’s as he freed his cock and wrapped his fingers around it, and Danse bucked his hips into him, pushing at his underwear and then grinding their dicks together. 

Arthur kissed Danse again, and their fingers intertwined, stroking each other, catching each other’s gasps and groans with their mouths. Arthur felt himself getting close, so he put his forehead on Danse’s shoulder to try and ground himself. He tried, he tried to hold out, but soon the words he’d wanted to say for so long were spilling from his lips just as he was spilling into Danse’s hand.

And he heard the same words echoed back as Danse found his own release.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Syrenpan for additional beta reading! 
> 
> This chapter took me three days to write, it was really difficult. It got _rewrites._ I never rewrite. Here's hoping for no more snags on the road to .... whatever happens at the end of this!


	12. Getting to Know You

They stayed together most of the night, wrapped together in each other’s arms in Arthur’s bed, exchanging soft kisses and heated touches, but mostly just talking. They talked about the past, the present, and also the future, and Arthur found himself promising to spend some time with Lena, get to know her, and find out if he liked her as much as Danse did.

The next morning, he was as good as his word. When Danse left for the police station, Arthur headed to the mess hall, where he found the Knight picking at her breakfast absently, while fiddling with her pip-boy and making notes. Arthur collected his own breakfast, and then stepped up to her table. 

“Do you mind if I join you?” he asked. 

“Not at all, Elder,” she replied, clearing a space. 

“What are you doing?” He asked, curious. 

“I’m reviewing the map, trying to find an efficient route through the Glowing Sea that allows me to check the most likely spots where this scientist may be hiding.”

Arthur nodded. He admired her determination. They chatted for a few more minutes, and then he tilted his head slightly to the side, regarding her. She was intelligent, composed, well educated, and attractive. But he was curious to see how she performed in combat. 

Arthur liked to go on patrols from time to time, to keep his wits sharp. As Elder, it wouldn’t be wise to go on any particularly long or dangerous missions, but he did occasionally suit up for a guard duty or clearance mission. And he hadn’t gone anywhere in over a month. Today seemed like a good day to stretch his legs. 

“I have heard there’s still quite a few feral ghouls in the subway tunnel near Cambridge. Would you be interested in coming with me to clear them out?” he asked. 

“Yes, sir,” she replied. 

“Excellent, Knight. Make sure you’re geared up in your power armour and armed, and meet me on the flight deck at 09:00."

***

Arthur was waiting for her when she arrived. They had sent extra people to the police station in Cambridge, and were busily fortifying it as a secondary base of operations. As such, there were regular shuttle flights between the Prydwen and Cambridge. 

Arthur had left his coat in his quarters, and was encased in his personal power armour. He had a special gatling laser he had had constructed, and it was already stowed in the vertibird. She strode up to him, confident in her power armour, her helmet under one arm and a familiar looking laser rifle attached at her hip. 

“Nice rifle,” he said.

“Paladin Danse gave it to me. After I helped him at Arcjet.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow. Danse must admire this woman even more than he’d thought. 

“Shall we?” He asked, indicating that she board the vertibird ahead of him.

She climbed inside, and they both stood for the ride, not trying to talk over the noise of the rotors.

After they had landed, it was only a short hike to the metro entrance. Once inside, they began to make short work of the ferals. Arthur stood with his gatling laser mowing down the waves as they came, and Lena stood just back and to the side, picking off the ones that slipped through. They made a good team. 

Suddenly there was a banging noise. Arthur turned to look at her. She was removing her helmet. She looked at him. “HUD malfunctioned, couldn’t see.” Suddenly her eyes widened. Arthur turned. A ghoul was bearing down on him quickly, and was almost there. Lena ducked under his arm and fired. It was near point blank range, and bits of ghoul splattered everywhere, coating her hair and face. 

They scouted the area for any further hostiles, and then finding nothing, Arthur turned to one of the corpses and ripped a shred of tattered cloth from it. He handed it to her, and she attempted to clean her face, managing to get most of the large chunks off at least. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t have anything better,” he said.

Her rag was a mess, so he looked around for another one, and then stepped up to her, and began wiping at some of the spots he’d missed. She ran her hands through her hair, combing out as much slime as she could, and leaving it sticking up. 

For some reason, the sight of her suddenly made Arthur’s heart pound uncomfortably in his chest. He considered her for a moment, and then impulsively asked, “Knight, do you play chess?”

***

They needed to eat when they got back to the Prydwen, so Arthur retrieved his board from his room while Lena got cleaned up, and he met her in the mess hall. They sat together at a table in the corner, and he set up his board. He was rather proud of it. It consisted of the board he’d found all those years ago, repainted and polished by Arthur, and a nearly complete set of pieces that various people had scavenged for him over the years. He actually had quite a few extra pieces as well, but he was also missing several, including one queen. The missing pieces were replaced with bottlecaps with letters scratched in the top.

The first thing Lena did was beat Arthur. She winked at him, and said “Harvard chess club.”

Then she beat him again.

This was an unprecedented development, as the only person who ever beat him was Danse, and even then not terribly frequently. Quinlan sometimes made a good showing, but it was hard to get him to play. 

He came closer on the third try, but by then it was getting late, so he packed it up and offered to walk her back to the crew quarters. When he arrived, she turned to him, and said, “Well, here I am.”

He nodded, and then stood and looked at her for a minute, taking in her freshly washed hair, gleaming in the dim light, the soft curve of her cheek, and the faint scar on her temple. And suddenly, on impulse, he bent his head down and kissed her gently on the corner of her mouth. 

“Goodnight, Lena,” he said, and then turned and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't got a thing written past this, but the weekend is almost here, so I should be able to get ahead again soon. 
> 
> Thanks again to Syrenpan for beta reading this chapter. Everyone go check out her story 'Matthew', if you want a little more angst for today. It's a really good Danse origin story.
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/6057859


	13. Upfront

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan on using the game plot as a reference point from here on out. However, it's really just a starting point. Game quests may be out of order or end in different results, and I certainly won't be covering them all. I am, however, issuing a generalized spoiler warning for mid to late game events, including Blind Betrayal, so please bear that in mind as you read.

“So you like her then?” Danse asked the next evening.

“Uhhh… huuuhhh…” Arthur had a hard time replying with Danse kissing his way down his chest. 

“Maybe I’ll talk to her then. See if she likes you too. Maybe we can all spend some time together before we leave.”

“Mmm… aaahh…” Arthur answered, closing his eyes and fisting the sheets as Danse’s mouth closed around his cock.

***

Danse didn’t have a chance to follow through with his decision. He had left Arthur’s room before dawn, and Arthur didn’t see him again that morning. He was finished his own breakfast and headed down the quiet upper corridor to speak with one of the engineers when she cornered him. 

“Hello, Elder,” Arthur was startled and looked up from the clipboard he was holding, 

“Hello, Knight,” he said. He looked down at her. Her jumpsuit was clinging to her in all the right places. “How can I help you?” he asked. 

“I was just thinking about our date the other day.”

“Date?”

“Yeah. A date. It’s when two people spend some time together, maybe have dinner, see if they like each other. Then maybe share a kiss before retiring for the night.”

Arthur nodded. He was unfamiliar with that term, but that was essentially what had happened. 

Lena stepped closer to him. She ran a finger down the collar of his coat. 

“I don’t have time for dates,” she said. 

Arthur frowned, but she continued before he could say anything. 

“I need to find my son, I don’t have time to play those kind of games. This is a new world, and if there’s something going on between you and I, I’d rather just be upfront about it instead of tiptoeing around the topic for weeks.”

Arthur vehemently agreed with that idea. He put his finger under her chin and tipped her face up to look at him. “That sounds like an excellent idea, Lena. Why don’t you meet me in my quarters tonight around nine and we can have an upfront discussion.” He leaned his head down to hers and placed a lingering kiss on her mouth, before releasing her and walking away.

***

He found Danse in the Armour Hangar a short time later. He was fiddling with his power armour, last minute preparations before he and Lena were to leave to the Glowing Sea. He fought the urge to run his fingers through Danse’s hair. He was the Elder; gossip would only serve to undermine him.

He leaned on the armour frame and waited for Danse to look up. When he did, Arthur smirked at him. “No need to talk to Lena,” he announced. “She and I have a date. Tonight. In my room. Don’t wait up for me.”

***

When Lena showed up that night, Arthur ushered her inside. She was dressed casually in jeans and a dark blue shirt, and she must have done something to her mouth, because it was red and glossy and he wanted to taste it.

He stepped back as she passed, then pulled out a chair and indicated that she sit in it. She raised an eyebrow, but complied. 

Arthur sat across from her, and leaning back, folded his arms on his chest. She leaned forward, resting her arms on the table in such a way that her breasts stretched the front of her shirt slightly. Arthur swallowed dryly, but looked her in the eye, his face expressionless.

“Let’s be upfront,” he began. “This is more complicated than you realize. To begin with, and most importantly, I’m the Elder. I didn’t get to be the youngest Elder in Brotherhood history by allowing anything to affect my reputation with the people under my command. I require decorum and respect in public. So there will be no more accosting me in hallways.”

Lena nodded and shifted in her chair as if to rise, but he put up a hand to stop her.

“There’s more we need to discuss, in the interest of full disclosure. We need to talk about Paladin Danse.”

“There’s nothing going on between me and Paladin Danse,” she said, looking a little confused. Arthur just watched her, and waited for her to continue. 

“Ok well, actually, I did kiss him once. I was upset and he was consoling me. But he stopped it, and, well, to be honest, he never stopped talking about you. I came to the conclusion that you were more his type… so to speak. So I dropped it. And then when I saw you, I saw why.”

Lena’s eyes slid lazily up and down Arthur in a way that sent heat radiating through his entire body, and he felt his cock shifting uncomfortably in his pants. He took a slow breath through his nose, forcing himself to keep his face expressionless. 

“Once you and I had our date,” Lena continued, “I concluded that the feeling wasn’t mutual.” 

Arthur nodded. Her conclusions made sense.

“Well,” he said. “You’re partly right, but partly wrong. You are definitely Danse’s type. I’m not the only one he never stops talking about. And also his feelings for me are reciprocated.” 

Arthur wanted to laugh when her eyes widened in shock, and a little confusion. He leaned forward in his chair, resting his arms on the table. 

“What I’m saying, Lena, is that Danse and I would both be interested in ‘dating’ you. Together or separately. If you’re not interested in that, we never need to talk about it again. Or if you want some time to think about it, I fully understand, and we would be happy to give you as much time as you need.”

Lena just sat there, staring at him for a few minutes, and then she swallowed hard and nodded. “I probably should think about this,” she said. But her eyes raked his body the same as before, making him hope she wouldn’t have to think about it for too long. 

She stood up and moved towards the door. Arthur got up as well and put his hand on the handle to open it for her. But before he did, he leaned in close and said in a low voice near her ear, “I trust you will keep this conversation… private?” 

She leaned back a little, and then whispered near his cheek, her breath fanning against his beard, “Yes.” 

He straightened, and looked at her glossy red lips a little regretfully, and then opened the door to let her out. “I hope to see you again soon.”


	14. Amenable

The Glowing Sea was the epicentre of the two century old nuclear blast that leveled Boston. It was dangerously irradiated and heavily infested with radscorpions, feral ghouls, and deathclaws. It was the source of the radstorms in the region, and due to the conditions, was unsafe for any kind of air transport, and so Danse and Lena needed to be dropped off near the edge and would head in by foot.

He had vertibirds patrolling the perimeter the entire time they were gone in order to facilitate quick retrieval when they returned from their mission. Although he was stoic before the crew, he was nearly distraught in private. 

They were gone ten days. Arthur was not able to meet the vertibird that brought them in, but he let out a sigh of relief and headed to the sickbay as soon as he heard. He spoke with Cade for a moment, who reported on their status, and then headed into the room. He nodded at Cade’s assistant as she left, shutting the door behind her, and leaving Arthur alone with Danse and Lena. 

He headed to where Danse lay, a radaway drip attached to his arm. He was pale and dirty, but seemed unharmed. Arthur bent and pressed a kiss to his lips, running his hands over Danse’s face and arms in order to reassure himself that he’d returned whole.

Once he’d relieved his anxiety concerning Danse, he turned to Lena. She was doing much worse. Although they had both taken the same amount of radiation, it seemed to have affected her much more severely. Presumably because she hadn’t spent her life building up the tolerance to radiation that most other people nowadays had.

Arthur sat on the edge of her bed and observed her. She had dark circles under her bloodshot eyes, and she smiled at him weakly. 

“Cade says you will be good as new in two or three days,” he told her. She smiled weakly at him and closed her eyes. 

Without getting up, he turned to Danse. “What’s the report,” he asked. 

Danse glanced at Lena, who seemed to be asleep. “The scientist turned out to be a fucking super mutant,” he said in a low voice. “She stopped me from killing it, barely. It was functional, and provided us with a blueprint for the teleportation device we need to build. But in order for it to work, we need the signal from a courser chip. I assume we have one?”

Arthur frowned. “I doubt it. Anything we pulled from a courser would have been left in the labs at the Citadel. You may need to find a courser here.”

Danse sighed. “I will have to track one down, then. Virgil told us that they are most likely to be found in the region of the CIT ruins, and gave us a radio frequency to track it with. Cade says I should be on my feet in an hour or so. I will head out tomorrow by myself.”

Arthur’s mouth tightened. He wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about sending Danse after a courser, but there was no way he was letting Lena get anywhere near it either. He nodded curtly. “Agreed, but take a leave day first please. Well or not, you could use a rest day.”

***

Danse showed up at Arthur’s room that evening. Arthur let him in, and Danse went straight to the bed and took off his shoes. Arthur sat next to him. Danse rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m exhausted, but I’d rather be here than in sickbay or alone in my room,” he said.

Arthur rubbed his back, and then Danse laid back in the bed. Arthur went around turning off lights, and then climbed in next to him. He could just make out Danse’s face in the dark. “Lena and I talked while we were gone.” Danse whispered.

“And?”

“I think she’s remarkably amenable to our proposal.”

Arthur smiled in the dark, then kissed him, and then ran his hands through Danse’s hair and up and down his back until he was asleep.

***

Two days later, Arthur went with Danse to visit Lena before he left to go hunt down a courser. He had been in to see her a few times already but she was sleeping most of those times. She was awake today, and already looking much better. Arthur watched from the doorway as Danse bent down and kissed Lena goodbye, then gave her a gentle caress on the side of her face, before rising. He stopped to give Arthur a kiss as well, before leaving them alone. 

Arthur smiled at Lena, and then held up the item he was holding. 

“Are you up for a game?” He asked. “I’m certain to beat you in this condition.”


	15. Dinner

Danse was still gone a few days later when Arthur found Lena sitting in the mess hall. She had been released the day before to light duty and had been helping Proctor Ingram take inventory. He stopped at her table and looked down at her. 

“Are you feeling better today, Knight?” He asked her.

“Yes, sir. As good as new.”

“Excellent. Then would you care to join me in my quarters for dinner tonight, at seven?”

Arthur’s breath caught in his throat when her eyes darkened and she replied in a low voice, “Yes, sir. I look forward to it.”

He nodded to her and departed before he gave in and dragged her off right now. 

***

Arthur hoped she would put that red stuff on her lips again tonight, and he wasn’t disappointed. He wondered if she had any idea how much he had thought about her glossy red lips during the last few weeks, how much he wanted to see how they would look wrapped around his cock. He bit his tongue when he saw it and then ushered her in. He’d promised her dinner and he would at least let her eat before he pounced on her.

The dinner topics meandered from her education to his childhood in the Citadel. They also discussed her time in the Commonwealth prior to her having stumbled across the Brotherhood, and she told him about rumours going around about a secret underground railroad which apparently assisted escaped synths. Lena scoffed at that notion, stating that she couldn’t see how synths were any different than a sentry bot or a Mr. Handy, clearly more advanced, but simply a tool. They avoided the topic of Danse, although she did talk quite a bit about her infant son, and how she was determined to rescue him from the Institute no matter what the cost. 

They had moved on to more lighthearted topics by the time they were done with dinner. Arthur picked up the dishes and set them outside the door for the squire who was serving as steward. Meanwhile, Lena excused herself into the washroom for a moment, and when she came back out, she had freshened up her red lipstick.

Arthur tried to shift himself surreptitiously in his pants, but judging by the gleam in her eye, he failed. She smiled and walked up to him, hooking her finger through the collar of his jumpsuit and pulled him down close to her face. Arthur looked at her lips. They were so juicy looking that instead of kissing her, he just gently licked at her lower lip. It didn’t taste like anything, so he tried again, licking and sucking on her lower lip for a moment before angling his head and kissing her properly. 

He smiled a little against her mouth when she made a little moaning noise and wrapped her arms around his neck. He put his hands around her waist, and then began bunching up her shirt in his hands. He leaned back and caught her eye before he pulled her shirt off over her head and then began working on her bra, which he unhooked and then tossed on top of her shirt. 

Her breasts were full, with thick, brown nipples that stood up a little when he flicked and tongued at them, and had faint white lines along the side which he traced with his tongue. After a moment at this angle he started to get uncomfortable, so he picked her up and brought her over to his bed. He laid her down and removed his shirt before situating himself between her thighs. 

He ground himself against her for a moment, and then looked at her, and said, “If you change your mind at any time let me know.” She just nodded and pulled his head back down for another kiss.

He only kissed her a moment before going back to her breasts, sucking on one nipple and then the other, and running a hand up her thigh when she moaned and wrapped her legs around his chest. 

He worked his way down her belly, kissing every line and dimple he found on the way, and when he got to her pants, he rubbed her briefly through them until she made a sound of pleasure and arched into his hand. 

That seemed like his cue to take her pants off, so he did, removing them quickly and then laying down between her legs and burying his nose in her apex. She tasted fresh, and clean, and he lapped at her, gently, listened to the sounds she made, and when her legs began to tremble and he thought she must be close, he stopped and kissed at her inner thigh until she stilled, and then he did it all over again.

Soon she was grasping at his hair and muttering “please,” over and over again, so he decided she’d had enough. He stood and removed his pants, before kneeling between her thighs. She tried to arch into him, but he stopped her with a hand on her stomach, and then he grasped his erection firmly by the base and guided it to her. But instead of pushing inside, he slid it up and down her folds, swirling it around her sensitive clit. 

He’d brought her so close with his mouth that it only took the slightest touch to send her over the edge. He smiled a little in satisfaction, and began working himself into her fluttering pussy, fully seating himself within by the time she had stilled.

He watched her face for any sign of discomfort, and finding none, he pulled out a bit and then pushed back into her with a grunt of relief. Finally, he surrendered to his own desire and gave her a few more hard thrusts, and then he was coming, jerking his hips unevenly as her pussy milked the last few drops from him.


	16. Happy

Paladin Danse was successful in his mission to bring down a courser. He’d managed to track it without too much difficulty, and when he found it, it had been tracked by a number of mercenaries. The courser had taken out most of the mercenaries and the mercenaries had injured the courser, so it was a simple matter to finish off the remaining combatants.

Arthur and Danse met up with Proctors Ingram and Quinlan to discuss the next steps. They had what they needed to build the relay, aside from some raw materials. The plan to rebuild Liberty Prime was also ready to begin, barring some supply issues there. The meeting ended with Ingram ordered to remain at the airport to supervise the two construction projects, Quinlan would continue to analyse any data that came in, and Danse was to oversee procurement via a series of sweep and retrieve missions. 

The next few weeks were a flurry of activity, and Danse and Lena were gone a lot of the time in the field. Arthur was equally busy aboard the Prydwen with his own duties, and was up late many nights with paperwork as well. 

Arthur was headed to his quarters one evening, rubbing his neck tiredly. He opened the door to his room, and was surprised to find it occupied. He lifted one eyebrow before stepping inside and closing the door carefully behind himself. 

“I didn’t know you were back,” said Arthur, folding his arms across his chest. He felt his dick hardening in his fatigues. 

“I just got in an hour ago,” replied Danse, who was sprawled out on Arthur’s bed wearing Arthur’s long leather coat...and nothing else.

Arthur strode past Danse to the desk, and put down his folder and clipboard, and then he started to remove his clothing in a leisurely manner. He briefly considered getting in the shower and making Danse wait a little longer, but decided against it because he hadn’t seen Danse in almost a week. Instead he casually reached into his desk drawer and pulled out one of the tubes of medical lubricant he’d swiped from Cade’s office, and strode over to the bed. 

Danse started to take off the coat, but Arthur said, “Leave it.” He pushed Danse down onto the bed, and laid down between his legs, smashing his mouth down onto the other’s. Arthur pushed Danse’s thighs apart and then opened the tube, slipping his fingers down to Danse’s ass. 

“I wanted to fuck you tonight,” muttered Danse in Arthur’s ear.

“Next time,” replied Arthur with a growl. 

***

“Hopefully we can all spend an evening together soon,” Danse said into Arthur’s neck as the sweat cooled on their bodies. 

“Are you in love with her?” asked Arthur.

“You have to admit, she’s really amazing.”

“She is. You’re right. And I like her. A lot. But it hasn’t been that long since you and I got together, and her too… it just seems like it’s going really fast.”

“You and I should have gotten together a long time ago and you know it,” replied Danse. 

Arthur had to admit that was true. 

“Look, it’s not like we’re marrying her,” said Danse. “I just really like having her around, and so do you. And I’d like to spend time with both of you. At the same time.”

“I like her too, Danse. A lot. But I love you.” Arthur paused. “I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy,” said Danse, yawning. 

Arthur kissed the side of Danse’s head as he fell asleep, and he wasn’t far behind. 

***

Arthur looked down at Lena’s red lips as she sucked on his cock, working the shaft with her slim hand and licking the tip. He watched as the red came off, and smeared a track across his belly and thighs, leaving a trail behind. He groaned and leaned back when she moved over to Danse and did the same thing, smearing blood red all across his body as well.

Danse groaned and cried out, cupping his dick in his hand for a moment as he came, and then running his hand up his chest to his heart, trailing a red smear the whole way.

Arthur was a little disturbed at all the red, but forgot it a moment later as she came back to him and finished him off, and he closed his eyes as he found his release.

***

Arthur shot awake and sat up in bed. He looked over. Danse was still asleep next to him. His heart was racing, and his dick was throbbing, but he slowly came back to reality and calmed down. 

He relaxed back onto his pillow, curving his body into Danse. _That was weird._ he thought as he fell back asleep.

He didn’t remember the dream when he woke up in the morning


	17. Images

Arthur stood in the shower in his quarters and let the hot water run down his back. He closed his eyes and flexed his shoulders in the spray, and let his mind wander. 

A memory from a few weeks earlier drifted into his head and he felt himself begin to harden as he recalled the image of laying spent, lazily kissing Danse and watching as Lena undulated on him.

He leaned on the shower wall and began to stroke himself at the memory, but his mind soon wandered to more memories, of Lena riding his dick while he sat in his desk chair, her lips flavoured with scotch as she switched between kissing him and sucking on Danse’s cock. Or Lena caught between himself and Danse, Arthur’s hand over her mouth to stifle her cries lest they echo through the whole ship….

The images drifted randomly from memory to memory, and he bit back a groan as he got closer, the hot shower serving only to heighten the sensations.

He was startled suddenly as the shower curtain was pushed aside and Lena, the actual physical Lena, stepped into the shower with him and twined her arms around his waist. 

“Wow, Arthur,” she said, “It’s only been a half an hour.”

“I was thinking about you,” he growled in reply, turning around and gathering her into his arms. He slipped a finger between her legs and finding her still slick from earlier, he braced her against the wall and drove into her, wrapping her legs around his waist and burying his face in her neck.

***

A short time later, he lay alone in bed with her, eyes half closed as her fingers trailed absently through the hair on his chest. They had fallen into a pattern over the last few months, the three of them. Lena and Danse weren’t always aboard the Prydwen at the same time, but both of them spent the better part of their nights in Arthur’s quarters.

They had all been quite circumspect, but Arthur often missed the easy privacy of his large suite at the Citadel. Still, he was certain there hadn’t been any rumours of them throughout the ship. Arthur had always been good at picking up on gossip, and he hadn’t noticed any strange looks from any of the crew, so he figured things were going well for now.

He had to start thinking about the future, though. Lena spent a lot of time talking about her son, and how much she looked forward to finally seeing him. Danse and Arthur were eager to meet the boy as well, and Arthur was already thinking about making him a squire and giving him the proper training he would need if he were to grow up in the Brotherhood. 

The thought of Lena’s son made him wonder if it might be time to think about having a child of his own. He closed his eyes and imagined Lena, sitting in the Citadel courtyard, with two dark haired toddlers, one with brown eyes and one with his own blue ones…

Arthur squeezed Lena tighter at the thought. The Institute would need to be dealt with first, and then decisions would need to be made with regards to the Commonwealth and whether or not it would require a force to remain behind, or if the Prydwen would immediately depart back to the Citadel. Only then could any personal decisions be made. 

So for now, the three of them would continue to be cautious as they spent as much time together as they could. 

***

Eventually the molecular relay was complete, and Lena and Danse returned to the Prydwen to make final preparations for the infiltration of the Institute. Liberty Prime was taking shape as well, and Arthur could see it from his Command Deck. It brought back memories of watching the behemoth of a robot marching out from the Citadel when he was a child, and he had to fight back a smile as it took shape day by day.

The decision to send Lena into the Institute was not an easy one. Danse argued vehemently against it, citing the danger of sending her into the pit of vipers, the very source of the coursers and synths that had terrorized the Capital Wasteland. He didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to; Danse was worried about losing Lena the same way he had lost Ellen.

Arthur was in favour of sending her. She had proven herself worthy in stealth infiltration and in interpersonal relations with the people of the Commonwealth; he felt she would be effective with either approach when she got in. Ingram, Kells, and Quinlan agreed with him, and as Elder, Arthur’s decision overrode everyone else’s anyway, and so it was decided to send in Lena.

It was a hard decision, and Arthur knew it was the correct one. But he was still worried for her safety as the day got nearer, and he knew Lena and Danse were apprehensive as well. 

***

When the day finally arrived, Arthur headed down to the Airport to see her off. Neither Danse nor Lena were anywhere in the vicinity of the relay, so he wandered around a bit looking for them. Finally a scribe pointed towards a back door, which was propped open with a tin can. He stepped outside to find Danse sitting with his arms around Lena, and she was crying.

Arthur sat down next to them and put his arm around her too. “What if it disintegrates me, Arthur? What if I get shot the second I arrive?” Arthur held her tighter. Those were valid concerns he himself shared. He searched for words he’d used in the past to reassure soldiers afraid before a battle, but before he could say them, she continued. 

“What if I get there and Shaun is… what if he’s…”

Arthur had no words for that, and neither did Danse, so they both just held her close as she cried.

***

Her tears were gone and her face unemotional an hour later as she stepped into the relay, armed with Righteous Authority and dressed in wastelander clothing and armour. They hadn’t wanted to send her in with her Brotherhood gear on, they decided it would look less like an attack if she was in civilian clothing. 

She lifted her chin and looked from Arthur to Danse one last time, before squaring her shoulders and staring straight ahead as she vanished in a flash of white lightning.


	18. Assessment

The days stretched into weeks, and although they kept busy, Arthur and Danse were in a constant state of dread as each day passed with no word from Lena. 

Liberty Prime was nearly ready. It merely required weapons, and Proctor Quinlan was searching pre-war documents for any hint of where the required munitions could be found. Vertibird patrols had been increased in the hopes that Lena would be able to be retrieved if she reappeared, and Arthur had even taken to listening to the news on Diamond City Radio in hopes of hearing some clue as to where she’d gone.

All signs pointed to increased synth activity throughout the Commonwealth, and there were even rumours that a pair of coursers had been responsible for clearing out the raider stronghold of Libertalia. Arthur had no idea why the Institute would be interested in a den of raiders, so he didn’t put a lot of stock in that story.

Finally, late one afternoon while Danse was away leading a patrol, Lena reappeared in a flash of light on the flight deck of the Prydwen. She was dressed in the same clothes she had been wearing when she left, minus the armour.

As soon as Arthur heard, his chest tightened with a combination of relief, anger, and desperation to see her, but he simply nodded calmly to the scribe and ordered that she be sent to the command deck immediately. 

When she appeared, he clenched his fists to keep himself from running to her and gathering her up in his arms and kissing her, and then shaking her violently and demanding to know where she’d been. Instead, he simply nodded at her and said, “Welcome back, Knight. I presume your mission was a success?”

“Yes, sir,” she replied. 

“Excellent. And you are unharmed?” 

“Yes, sir.”

“I’d like Knight Captain Cade to look you over regardless. Please allow me to accompany you to his office.”

He ushered her out, and they headed up towards Cade’s office, pausing along the way so she could drop off a holotape in Quinlan’s office. Cade gave her a cursory examination, but since she was uninjured and suffered no radiation or illness, he gave her a clean bill of health in short order. 

As soon as they left Cade’s office, Arthur pulled her behind a bulkhead and took her face between his hands, kissing her repeatedly across her cheeks and forehead, before wrapping her up in his arms and hugging her tightly. “I’m so glad you’re ok,” he said. “Danse and I were so worried.”

Lena pried herself back so she could look at his face, and smiled. “Don’t worry, it’s not what you think it is down there.”

“I wish we had time to talk right now but I’ve already called a debriefing meeting, and we’re late.”

He let her go reluctantly, and then composed himself. They headed to the meeting room.

***

Lena joined the senior staff for the beginning of the meeting. She summed up her experiences in the Institute.

“It’s mostly occupied by civilian scientists and their families. They are not hostile and would rather be left alone. I was given a tour of the facility and spent several days in each department reviewing their projects and goals. They’ve built their facility beneath the old CIT ruins and don’t intend any harm to anyone above ground.”

Arthur’s eyes narrowed slightly. They had certainly caused a significant amount of harm.

“I have teleportation access to the majority of the facility, as things stand right now. Can I suggest that I be allowed to come and go, in the hopes of securing more information?

 

Quinlan agreed, but Arthur ignored him. He felt he needed more information before he could allow that. He told Lena to be ready to hand in a detailed written report by noon the next day. He then dismissed her, telling her to get some dinner and rest. She didn’t have clearance for the remainder of the meeting. 

Once she was gone, Proctor Quinlan spoke up. “At my request, Knight MacKenzie has downloaded a substantial amount of data from the Institute mainframe. Although a cursory glance indicates it’s mostly Synth Retention data, I believe in depth analysis may uncover some useful information. I request an additional scribe to assist me in this task.”

“Agreed,” said Arthur. Scribe Haylen is due for a rotation up to the Prydwen, I will assign her to you.”

Quinlan nodded and made a note, and then continued. 

“I have also found a lead on the required weapons for Liberty prime. The good news is there should be more than enough for what we have planned. The bad news, is that the stockpile is in the Glowing Sea.”

 

“I suggest we send Paladin Danse and Knight MacKenzie to secure the stockpile for transport. They already have experience travelling in that area.”

Arthur gritted his teeth but nodded in agreement. It was the most logical choice, regardless of how he felt about it personally. “Done.” he said. “Is there anything further we need to discuss?”

There was nothing further, so the meeting broke up. Arthur heard a vertibird docking outside, but paid it no mind as he headed up to the mess hall. He had just arrived and was looking for Lena when Paladin Danse stomped in, still in his power armour, and picked Lena up out of her seat, crushing her against his metal clad chest. 

“Gah! I’m fine! Put me down!” she shouted, but she was smiling. “Go change and then come have supper with me.”

Danse nodded and then hurried back out of the mess. Arthur stopped him in the hallway. “Make sure you bring her by later, we need to talk.” 

***

They showed up in Arthur’s quarters just before eight. Arthur handed Lena a drink, and she sat down in the desk chair. Danse stepped up behind her and began rubbing her shoulders. Arthur sat at the table and watched them for a moment, before asking, “Lena, what happened to your son?”

Lena smiled, a little sadly. “He’s all grown up. They took him out of the vault a much longer time ago than we thought. He’s over sixty. He’s… ill, doesn’t have much time left. I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could before I left, which is part of the reason I stayed so long. I wanted to catch up on what I’d missed. I hope I will still be able to go visit him.”

“You have to take as much time as you need,” said Danse.

Arthur looked at him sharply. This was a serious security risk. Lena was suggesting she would be a spy for the Brotherhood, but she would be spying on her own family. The conflict of interest put the entire Brotherhood at risk. Arthur was dismayed that Danse couldn’t see that. 

“Maybe we can find some way of getting him out, Lena, but our mission hasn’t changed. The Institute is a danger to the Commonwealth itself and all the surrounding regions as well. It needs to be stopped, for the good of mankind.”

“He hasn’t got much time left. He’s not going to want to leave.”

Arthur rubbed his hands over his face. He felt bad for her, but he had the whole Brotherhood to consider. “That doesn’t change the fact that their coursers and synths are a serious threat to the entire Commonwealth.”

“The coursers’ job is just to retrieve valuable Institute property. Sometimes synths malfunction and run away, so the coursers go after them. If people stay out of the way, the courser will do its job and go.”

Arthur didn’t believe that for a second. It may have been part of their job, but that didn’t explain why they regularly tried to get into the Citadel and Project Purity. He was starting to think Lena wasn’t quite as cognizant of the danger that the synths posed as he had thought.

“This is a really big decision, Lena. There are more things at stake than you know. I’m going to have to think about this.” 

“He’s my _son,_ Arthur. You can’t tell me I can’t see my son.”

“I have to think about this, at least until after I’ve read your report,” he repeated. He wasn’t going to be pressured into a decision with these kind of emotional arguments. 

Lena stood and walked over to the door. “Let me know when you decide,” she said, and then walked out, closing the door hard behind her. 

Arthur looked at Danse. “It’s risky to let her come and go, you know it is.”

“She’s never given us any reason to doubt her.” Danse replied, and then he left as well, leaving Arthur alone with his thoughts


	19. Ready to Go

After a long night, Arthur realised that Danse was probably right, at least to a point. Lena hadn’t given them cause to doubt her, and she was still the best way into the Institute at this time. 

He decided to send her and Danse on the mission into the Glowing Sea to secure the armaments, as previously decided, and he would give her permission to visit her son after that. 

“You understand, it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that I have a lot of people here I need to be concerned about. I can’t take decisions like that lightly,” he told her the next morning, when he called Lena and Danse onto the Command Deck to receive their orders. 

Lena nodded, and Arthur was satisfied. 

“You two are to head to the Glowing Sea tomorrow to secure some items for transport back to the airport. Please see Proctor Ingram for the details. And when you get back, you have permission to visit your son.”

Lena’s expression brightened and she smiled. “Thank you, sir, I appreciate it.”

Arthur nodded, and then they were dismissed to prepare for their trip. 

***

Later that evening, Arthur was working in his quarters when there was a knock at the door. He let Lena in. She looked nervous. 

“I just wanted to say thanks for changing your mind,” she said.

“I didn’t,” Arthur replied. “I just hadn’t made up my mind yet. I told you that.” 

He sighed at the look on her face. “I’m sorry. I have a lot to worry about besides just one person. I have the entire Brotherhood to worry about.”

He took her in his arms and held her for a moment, and then she leaned back and kissed him lightly. “It’s ok. I’m sorry too, for not waiting.” She kissed him again, a longer, lingering kiss. 

“Can you stay?” Arthur asked.

Lena shook her head reluctantly. “I have too much to do before I am ready to go, and I need to get my sleep. I’ll see you when I get back?”

“It’s a date,” he promised.

***

Danse showed up at the door about an hour after Lena left. They chatted about the mission for a moment. “I don’t think you need to be worried about Lena, Arthur. I trust her with my life. I _have_ trusted her with my life.”

“I know, you’re right. I just have to weigh these things carefully. It’s my job.”

“I understand.” Danse stepped closer and Arthur pulled him down for a kiss.

“I assume you have to go get ready and get your sleep too?” he asked.

“Nah… I’m always ready to go.” Danse grinned back, sliding his hand down Arthur’s chest to the bulge in his jumpsuit.

***

“I probably should leave so I can get _some_ sleep,” Danse said a couple hours later, as Arthur reluctantly let him up so he could get dressed. When he was ready, Arthur stood and kissed him hard. “Just be safe. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.”

“I’m going to be fine,” said Danse, and he turned and left.

***

Arthur saw them off the next morning, and then spent the next two days trying to keep his mind on his work instead of worrying about Danse and Lena.

It was late afternoon on the second day when Quinlan came to him. 

“Sir,” he said. “We’ve discovered something.... Disturbing.”


	20. Unblinded

Arthur stood there listening to Proctor Quinlan speak, and he had never had a more difficult time remaining unmoved in his entire life. He listened to Quinlan’s report, nodded thoughtfully, and then asked, “Does anybody else know about this?”

“No sir. Only myself and Scribe Haylen, who discovered this data.”

“All right, Quinlan. Let’s keep it that way.”

Arthur remained calm, nodding to the knight he passed along the way. He entered his quarters, walked into the bathroom, opened the shower, and punched the tiles so hard that a square of ceramic broke off and shattered on the floor. 

“Fuuuuuck!! Fuck! Fuck!” he shouted, half in rage, half in pain, and he realized that he was going to have to go see Cade because he was pretty sure he’d just broken his hand. He left the bathroom, took out a shirt, and tore a strip off of the bottom, wrapping it around his hand, and then used his teeth to pull the cork from a nearby bottle of something, and skipping the glass, took a large swig. 

The pain in his hand was excruciating but it wasn’t enough to push Quinlan’s words out of his brain.

Synth. Paladin Danse was a synth.

At some point, the most important person in his whole world, his Brother, best friend and lover, had been replaced with a duplicate, and he’d never even known.

He sat on the bed and pressed his palms to his forehead, ignoring the pain in his hand. When had this happened? Where was the real Danse?

He scoured his memory, trying to pinpoint when he’d changed. He remembered Danse as an initiate, crouching down in front of Arthur to tie his shoe, and ruffling his hair before running off. Danse spinning Ellen in his arms, and kissing her. Nights hunched over the chessboard. Fighting that deathclaw. Fighting supermutants and raiders and mirelurks. Danse helping him take apart his laser rifle. Danse sitting over Ellen’s body for hours, and crying with him on the Prydwen.

When had Danse changed? Things had changed since the Brotherhood arrived in the Commonwealth. Their relationship certainly had. Had Danse been replaced right here in the Commonwealth? Arthur’s gut twisted in a sick mixture of hope and disgust, as he came to the dual realization that while it would mean that the real Danse might still be somewhere nearby, it also meant he’d been fucking the synth who had replaced his best friend.

He barely made it to the toilet before he vomited. He didn’t know if it was from the guilt and shame or just the pain in his hand. He suspected all three. 

He couldn’t look at himself in the mirror as he rinsed out his mouth and washed his face with his left hand. He was going to have to go see Cade. He gritted his teeth, composed his face, and went to sick bay. 

***

Cade reset his hand and applied a stimpack, and told Arthur to give it a half an hour or so for the bones to fully mend. By that time, a squire found him and told him that Knight MacKenzie had arrived back on the Prydwen. Arthur fought to remain calm as he asked, “Is Paladin Danse back as well?”

“No, sir,”

“Alright. Dismissed”

He stood up from the bed and found Cade. “If Knight MacKenzie comes in here, please send her to me as soon as she’s well enough.”

Arthur strode out of the sickbay and down to the Command Deck, flexing his tingling right hand the whole time.

***  
When Lena reported to the Command Deck, the first question he asked was the location of Paladin Danse.

“He sent me back. I was beginning to show signs of radiation poisoning, so he told me to return on the first vertibird that arrived. He said he was going to remain behind and supervise the loading of the munitions.”

“He wasn’t there when the second vertibird arrived.”

“What is this about?”

“Proctor Quinlan finished decrypting the data you provided. It included a list of synths that went missing or escaped from their underground facility. That list included a record of each synth’s DNA. We have the same information on record for all of our soldiers. Paladin Danse’s DNA is a perfect match for a synth they call M7-97. His sudden absence simply reinforces our conclusion that M7-97 and Paladin Danse are one and the same. I have a hard time believing he never confided in you and then swore you to secrecy.”

“I have a hard time believing the same about you,” Lena replied in a low, angry tone. 

Arthur glared at her. She had a good point. He sighed. 

“Our mission in the Commonwealth is clear. The Institute and its creations need to be destroyed in order to preserve our future. And so I’m ordering you to hunt down Danse and execute him.”

Arthur saw something hard flicker in her eyes for a moment as she hesitated, but then she simply said “Yes, sir.”

He told her to speak with Quinlan and Haylen to try and determine where Danse may have run off too, and then dismissed her.

After she left, he turned to the window and looked out blankly over the Commonwealth. Somewhere out there was the real Danse… him or his remains. But Arthur had no idea where to begin looking for him. He gripped the railing hard and closed his eyes. He had to find out when Danse had been replaced. He had to know for sure so he would know where to start looking.

Arthur pored over the Institute records for two days, while Lena questioned everyone to find out where to look for the synth. He’d been looking at the same line over and over.

**M7-97. Mssg. Esc: 06/09/2274**

Then it hit him. It was like a sledgehammer to the back of the head. He couldn’t believe he’d been so blind. He jumped to his feet and ran out of his quarters. He grabbed the first person he found there. “Get me Knight MacKenzie. Immediately!”

He paced his quarters for a good ten minutes, before he gave up waiting in frustration and opened the door to find the person he’d sent.

“Where is she?” Arthur shouted. The scribe shrank back slightly.

“She’s gone, sir. She’s located the synth traitor and left about an hour ago.”

Arthur paled, and bolted to the Flight Deck. A vertibird was docking just as he arrived. “Did you bring Knight MacKenzie somewhere just now?” Arthur asked the pilot.

“Yes, sir.”

“I need you to bring me to that location immediately.” 

The words from the records were imprinted on his brain. M7-97. Missing. Escaped 6/09/2274.

Danse had been missing for years. Since before Arthur had even met him. Danse had always been a synth. The man who tied his shoes and mourned Ellen and played chess with him, was always M7-97. 

The vertibird ride seemed to take an eternity, and he only hoped he would get there in time to stop Lena.


	21. Aftermath

Arthur arrived at a bunker somewhere roughly north of the Prydwen. He hopped out and headed to the entrance, noting the destroyed turrets above the door, which opened suddenly to reveal Danse, followed closely behind by Lena. 

Relief and confusion warred in his mind. He was glad Danse hadn’t been executed, and also unused to his orders not being followed and so he blurted out the next words without thinking. “Why has this _thing_ not been destroyed?”

Danse flinched at his words and Arthur immediately regretted them.

“Don’t you understand? I thought I was human, Arthur. From the moment I was taken in by the Brotherhood, I’ve done absolutely nothing to betray your trust, and I never will.”

Arthur closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Unfortunately, it was already too late.

“I understand, Danse, but rumours have already gotten out. Allowing you to live undermines everything the Brotherhood stands for… everything I’ve stood for since I became the Elder. Danse, as far as the Brotherhood is concerned, you’re dead. You were executed by Knight MacKenzie and your remains were incinerated. You are banished from the Prydwen, the airport, and the Police Station, and if anyone from the Brotherhood sees you, know that you may be fired upon. Is that clear?”

“Thank you for believing in me, Arthur.”

Arthur turned to Lena who had not said a word this entire time. “Go get on the vertibird. I will be with you shortly.”

She turned and walked out of view. 

Arthur turned to Danse. “I can’t do anything about this. You have to stay here. Don’t leave. Set up the turrets again if you can.”

“I will.”

Arthur stepped up to Danse and took his face in his hands. “Please, please be safe. Watch out for coursers. Watch out for Brotherhood. I will come back if I can but I don’t know…”

Danse just wrapped his arms around him and they stood that way for a long time. 

Finally, Arthur pulled himself away reluctantly, and pressed one last kiss to Danse’s lips before turning and joining Lena on the Vertibird.

***

Arthur stalked directly to his quarters as soon as they arrived back at the Prydwen. He was not surprised when Lena tapped at his door a moment later, and he ushered her in wordlessly. He poured a large amount of whatever alcohol he found into a cup and sat down on the edge of his bed, but he didn’t drink it, he only stared. He felt like his heart had been ripped from his body, shoved back in, and then ripped out again, and he wasn’t sure how to react. 

He barely registered it when she sat beside him and put her hand on his back, rubbing it in slow circles. After a moment, she pulled the cup from his numb fingers and pulled his face down to hers, and he kissed her. And then he was on her, pulling her clothes and his aside in a flurry, trying just for one moment to still the ache in his chest and the buzzing in his brain. 

His mind went blank just for one moment when he plunged into her, as if fucking her would erase everything that had happened to him, everything that had gone wrong. 

The feeling lasted less than five minutes after they were finished, and she lay next to him, stroking his sweaty back as it cooled. 

“I don’t know what to do, Lena,” he whispered.

She didn’t answer him. She just continued to stroke his back. The scene at the bunker played out in his head again and again. The final goodbye kiss. Danse’s face at Arthur’s tactless words. Lena and Danse coming out of the bunker when he’d arrived. Something about that was nagging him. He’d been so relieved to see Danse still alive that he hadn’t questioned it. 

“You didn’t execute him,” he said. “I was too late, I didn’t get there in time to stop you. You didn’t execute him.”

“No. I didn’t.”

“What were you doing? Where were you going?” He rolled over to look her in the face. “Were you planning on deserting? Running away together?”

“No… I had just been considering… I thought it should be returned to its proper owners. It rightfully belongs to the Institute. Executing it would be a waste.”

Arthur stared at her for a moment, and then carefully stood and pulled his pants on, fighting every instinct he had not to reach his hands around her throat and choke the living breath from her body. 

“That would have been unwise, given the amount of sensitive Brotherhood data the Paladin had,” he said, as calmly as he was able. 

“I… that hadn’t occurred to me.”

Arthur handed her her clothing and she began to put it on as he leaned casually on the table, his arms folded so that his fingers were tucked under his arms, in order to hide the fact that he was grinding his nails into the skin over his ribs, using the pain as a way to keep from smashing her head on the bulkhead. 

“I have to do some work here, there are gaps that need to be filled, now. I’ll see you in the morning, hmm? We can go over our next steps.”

Lena nodded and smiled up at him, and he could see the concern in her eyes. He made himself give her a tender kiss on the corner of her mouth, and then let her out of the room. 

When she was gone, he carefully locked the door, and then sat on his bed and cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hesitate to express your thoughts on these developments. 
> 
> I want to draw this out and I really want to get everyone's reactions on each chapter, so I'm trying to leave enough time between the chapters for you all to read and comment. The whole story is complete though, and ready to publish. 
> 
> You all are so brave for sticking with me on this roller coaster. I love you!


	22. Declaration

Arthur had composed himself enough by the next morning that when Lena came to him in the mess hall at breakfast time, he gestured to the other seat and smiled at her over his cup. 

“I need to talk to you about my son. Before....all this, you gave me permission to visit. I’d like to do that, please.”

Arthur had been expecting this, so he nodded. “Permission granted. You have a week leave.”

She smiled. “Thank you, Arthur.” She moved to stand up.

“Wait,” he said. 

She sat back down. 

“I was thinking about what you said about returning Institute property. The way I see it, Danse is not Institute property. Danse is Brotherhood property. That synth was scavenged over a decade ago, and as such belongs to us.”

“The Brotherhood seems to have discarded it,” she said, leaning in close.

“I am the Elder, and as such, I am the Brotherhood. I have not discarded him. I have placed him somewhere for safekeeping. He belongs to me.”

Arthur leaned close to her as well, close enough to kiss. He smiled kindly at her. “If anything happens to him while you are away, I will hold you personally responsible, and the next time I find you, I will kill you. Is that clear?”

Lena swallowed hard, and nodded, avoiding his eyes as she stood.

“Oh and Knight?” he said, without looking up. “Enjoy your leave.”

***

Four days later, a vertibird spotted a large number of synths attacking the community at Bunker Hill. Three additional vertibirds, fully loaded with armoured Brotherhood soldiers, were deployed to the location to assist the settlers. Arthur was on the last vertibird, and when he arrived, the fight had been quelled. 

Arthur asked the Paladin who had taken charge for a report. 

“When we arrived, there were dozens of synths attacking the settlement, so we called in reinforcements. It appears there was actually a third group involved as well. Although we were unable to capture any of their number, their objective seemed to be freeing a group of escaped synths. The Institute combatants were after the same group of synths, apparently they were trying to retrieve them. The synth party was led by a courser, who we managed to terminate, as well as someone else, sir.”

Arthur was willing to guess.

“I suppose it was Knight MacKenzie?”

“Yes, sir. The good news is, we’ve captured her.” 

This was good news indeed. “Bring her here,” he said.

A moment later, Lena was brought to him.. She was held by two knights.

“Let me guess. The synths were Institute property and you were just returning them to their rightful owners.”

“I’m sorry, Arthur,” she said. This situation is more complicated than you know.”

“It isn’t complicated at all. You have committed treason and joined the enemy. You will be brought back to the Prydwen for a trial, and when you’re found guilty, you will be executed. I suppose I should be grateful that your true allegiance is now obvious--”

He stopped talking as he was interrupted by a blinding flash of light. A courser appeared, took Lena by the arm, and then disappeared again.

***  
Arthur spotted the pack brahmin out of the corner of his eye. The caravanner was calming the beast, which was still agitated from the recent fight. He headed that way, digging in his pocket. He had a fusion core, which he used to power the gatling laser rifle he had brought. 

He reached the caravanner, and looked at him. “Excuse me, civilian.” 

The caravanner looked at him. “Yeah?”

“On behalf of the Brotherhood of Steel, I would like to personally apologize for any suffering you may have experienced. You will be compensated. And I have a business proposal for you.”

Arthur and the caravanner, one Gerald Smith, worked out a deal to start a trade route between a particular bunker in the north, and the airport. In exchange, the Brotherhood would buy all scrap from him. Smith was to head to the bunker now, and deliver a letter.

“Remember, any letters in return are to be delivered to me, personally. I’ll leave word at the airport to send for me when you come. Please deliver this, and please accept this as your first payment.” Arthur handed Smith a letter and the fusion core. 

***

The sun was setting, and Arthur was reviewing the report about the attack at Bunker Hill, sitting on the couch on the control deck, when suddenly, with a flash of light, Lena appeared in front of him.

He jumped to his feet, but she raised her hands and said, “Relax, Arthur. I’m just here to talk.”

He eyed her suspiciously, but decided he had little chance of catching her when she could simply flash away again. 

“I told you my son was in the Institute, and that he is old and sick. But what I didn’t tell you is that he is the Director of the Institute. And he’s named me as his successor.”

“Director.” Arthur said. He was trying to wrap his head around it. Around how she’d somehow gone from Brotherhood Knight to Director of the Institute. 

“As such,” Lena continued, “I’m prepared to offer you- the Brotherhood- a deal. You take your army, and your airship, and leave the Commonwealth, and in return, we’ll stop sending coursers and synths to the Capital Wasteland.”

“No,” said Arthur. There wasn’t going to be any ‘deals’. The Institute had cost him too much already. 

“Look, Arthur, I’m just trying to save lives here. There’s no need for pointless bloodshed. Your vendetta against the Institute has got to stop. I’ll even allow you to take M7-97. Think of it as a going away present.”

“You’ll allow me? You presume to come on my ship after you betray me, the Brotherhood, and everything we stand for, after all we did to help you find your son, and try to tell me what you will and won’t allow me to do? Your days are numbered, Lena, yours and the Institute. Now get out.”

Lena looked at him for a long moment, frowning, and then she sighed. She stepped up to him, placed her hand on his face, and said. “For what it’s worth, Arthur, I truly did care for you. Farewell.” 

And then she stepped back, touched something on her pipboy, and vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments on the last chapter! Wow! Rolling into the homestretch here... Thanks for reading!


	23. All's Fair

“Sir, synths have started appearing at the Airport. Dozens of them. And several coursers, as well”

Arthur nodded. He had been expecting this. He had figured they would go for Liberty Prime soon, while it was still in testing stages. He had begun recalling the troops from around the Commonwealth, concentrating them defensively and keeping tight patrols. 

Patrols are useless against an enemy that can teleport.

Arthur stalked to the power armour station, issuing orders as he went. He stepped into his suit, stowed several fusion cores in the storage case, and collected his large gatling laser, before heading to the Flight Deck. 

He boarded the vertibird and ordered the pilot to circle several times so he could assess the situation before being set down. It was madness. White and red flashes shot in all directions as the synths and Brotherhood fired on each other. There was a synth at the top of Liberty Prime doing something to the terminal, and Arthur decided right away that that would be his target. The soldiers on the ground were clearly outnumbered two to one. 

He was just about to order the pilot to head towards the robot so he could jump out there, when he spotted something unusual. There was a form sprinting up the road from the north, headed towards the airport. It appeared to be someone wearing power armour, but not the standard Brotherhood issue. Rather it seemed to be the more rare X-01 model.

Arthur was curious so he had the pilot swing that way, and when he recognized the helmetless head of the person wearing the armour, he jumped out of the vertibird without hesitation, landing with a crash nearby.

Danse turned to Arthur at the sound, and Arthur strode up to him angrily. 

“What are you doing here? I told you to stay away from Brotherhood and coursers, and you show up in a battle between the Brotherhood and coursers. Are you mad?”

“I got your letter, Arthur. “Don’t trust Lena” I figured I didn’t have to if she couldn’t find me, so I headed this way, so that I could be nearby if the Brotherhood needed assistance. It looks like you could use every hand you can get right now.”

That was true. 

“Fine, just keep close, nobody will risk shooting me. Don’t you have a helmet?”

“Do I ever?” replied Danse. 

Arthur smiled. “It’s good to see you.” 

They turned and jogged towards the airport.

“A synth is at the top of Liberty Prime doing something to the terminal. We need to get up there. It’s guarded by coursers, so whatever it’s doing must be important.”

Danse nodded, and they jogged through the battle, firing at synths as they went, until they got to the scaffold.

When they reached the top, they discovered that it wasn’t two coursers but rather just one, and the other was Lena, dressed in a courser uniform. 

Danse fired on the synth at the terminal, and then pointed his weapon at the courser.

“You’re too late,” she said. That synth has already completed its task. Your weapon has been turned against you. I gave you a chance to leave, but you didn’t take it. Now I have to remove you as a threat.

Liberty Prime began speaking, its voice thundering over the crowd of combatants, and turning the heads of synth and soldier alike. 

Arthur lifted his heavy gun, pointing it at Lena, and Danse took that as a signal and fired rapidly at the courser at point blank range. It didn’t have time to react and it went down. 

Lena put her hands in the air. “You’re not going to shoot me, Arthur. Neither is he.”

Danse trained his weapon on her. “Are you certain?” he asked.

“Yes. I am. M7-97, Initialize factory reset Theta 63 Nimbus”

Arthur watched in horror as Danse slumped over to one side, and his reaction was instantaneous. He pulled the trigger on his gatling laser, firing it directly at Lena, and held it down until the core was empty and it stopped firing. There was nothing left of her but red ash.

Liberty Prime broke out of its moorings, shaking the scaffolding on which they stood, and a quick glance at the battlefield showed that the fight was ending. The Institute had won. 

Arthur had only one thought in his mind. He pulled the fusion core out of the X-01 armour, causing it to pop open, extracted the limp body of Danse, and carried him out of the airport and headed north, barely even glancing behind him when his beloved Prydwen exploded and came crashing down on the airport below.


	24. Endgame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised you angst. You thought I gave it to you. That was just a taste.

It was the hardest hike of Arthur’s life. Even with the power armour to assist, Danse was well over six feet tall and mostly muscle. He was more exhausted than he had ever been in his entire life when he finally pushed through the door at Listening Post Bravo.

He made his way down the elevator and stood Danse up near a small table. He just stood there, eyes open, slumped over. He had tried jostling him awake several times on the long walk, but to no avail.

Arthur took a moment to scope out the bunker. There were two main rooms, and then a doorway led to living quarters with two small bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. A quick test showed that the water ran, although he wasn’t convinced it was potable. He dragged Danse to one of the bedrooms and laid him on the bed. He found a can of purified water and tried trickling it into his mouth, but nothing happened. 

Frustrated, he left the room, and then went back into the main area and stepped out of the power armour. He paced a while, then disabled the elevator and went into the second room where he lay down to think and fell asleep almost immediately. 

***

When Arthur woke up, he was confused as to where he was for a moment. The bed he’d fallen asleep on was terrible, rusted and filthy, and the room was dank with only a single bulb. He made his way into the other room and found Danse still lying precisely where he’d left him. 

He tried again to get some water into him, but most of it ran out the corner of his mouth. Arthur sat on the edge of the bed and cried. 

***

It was late on the second day in the bunker, and Arthur was growing frantic. Although he hadn’t moved, Danse was clearly suffering from dehydration. His lips were chapped and his eyes sunken. Arthur had closed them on the first day, the blank stare being too much for him to bear.

Arthur stalked around the bunker looking for some kind of solution. He found two ruined robots, and started pulling wires from them, and then took the last, half dead fusion core from his power armour and brought them, along with a roll of duct tape, into Danse’s bedroom. He taped the exposed ends of the wire to Danse’s chest, and then touched the other ends to the fusion core. 

That got a reaction. Danse’s body arched upward, his eyes shot open, and a long sound came out of his mouth. Arthur quickly pulled the wires away from the core, and the jolting stopped, but the movement didn’t. 

The synth’s eyes were open, and he was looking wildly around the room. He was still making the same long sound, but it was tapering off. His mouth was opening and closing, and he was swallowing. 

Arthur took this as a good sign and tried trickling water into him again. It was with a great deal of relief that he noticed that Danse was swallowing it all. Arthur began to hope he could get him to eat, as well. 

“How do you feel?” Arthur asked.

But Danse didn’t respond. He just kept looking around wildly, and when Arthur stopped giving him water, he started making the sound again.

He tried giving Danse food, but he choked, so Arthur mixed it with some water into a paste and fed it to him, and that seemed to work better. Eventually, he must have had enough because when Arthur stopped feeding him, he stopped making the noise and closed his eyes. Soon his breathing slowed and it seemed like he was asleep. 

Arthur laid on the floor in exhaustion and soon fell asleep as well.

***

He woke to the long crying sound again, as well as a terrible odor. 

Danse had fouled himself. 

Arthur cleaned him, and found some clean clothes in a trunk, and redressed him, and then fed him again, and finally he went back to sleep.

***

The week since Arthur had shocked Danse had been exhausting, but he had fallen into somewhat of a routine. And so he was startled when he heard the sound of someone outside the bunker. He looked into the camera to find the caravanner, Smith, outside, along with his pack brahmin. Arthur pulled on a semi-clean shirt and went up the elevator.

Smith was surprised to see him, clearly. Arthur chatted with him for a bit, and Smith explained that the destroyed Prydwen was pretty much common knowledge at this point. He had decided to swing by this way to see if the loner here knew about it, and had found Arthur instead. 

Arthur was happy to talk to a person again, even for a few minutes, so he made an arrangement for him to come by twice a month with supplies, and in exchange Arthur would repair any weapons he had. 

It wasn’t a particular aptitude he had, but Danse had taught him a lot as a child, and he could repair and maintain most weapons sufficiently.

When Arthur went back inside, he went over to Danse and checked on him. “That was Smith, the caravanner,” he said. He’d taken to talking to Danse, a kind of running monologue, even though Danse never responded. “I managed to get some molerat. It will be nice to have some meat.”

“Met” said Danse.

Arthur looked at him sharply. “Meat”

“Mit” replied Danse.

Suddenly Arthur’s heart filled with hope. 

***

“Hello, Smith,” Arthur said several months later, when the caravan arrived.

“Hey, Arthur. How’s the big guy? He still banging on the walls when he wakes up?”

“He sure is. I’m still trying to teach him to read. It’s tough though. He’s definitely more mechanically inclined.” He held up a laser rifle. It had been tweaked to an astounding level, and would incinerate a supermutant in one shot.

“Looks good, I’ll take it. I have food and water here for you, and I found some clothing you might like. I have a couple of pipe pistols for you but nothing else for weapons. Oh, but I found that item you asked me to keep an eye out for.” Smith dug around in his pack for a moment, and then pulled out a chess board and held it up triumphantly. 

Arthur smiled. He had had the idea that this might trigger memories and bring back the real Danse, but he had no solid hope. Regardless, at least he could teach him to play.

“And what about that other matter, did you find a contact?”

“I did, I have somewhere I can bring a letter if you ever decide.”

“Let’s just give this a few more weeks, Smith. Maybe the chess board will work.”

After Smith departed, Arthur headed back down the elevator, and found Danse in his underwear in the pantry, raiding the sweets. He gently took them away and took Danse to his bedroom, where he helped him get dressed, and then bent to tie his shoes. He stood up and ruffled his hair, and then said, “Come see what I brought.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here-- hands readers kleenex. 
> 
> I will post the final chapter this evening around supper time, MST. 
> 
> I really appreciate all the comments I got in the night!


	25. Decisions

The thumping was what woke him. The thumping was always what woke him. 

When Arthur Maxson came awake and opened his eyes, it was pitch dark in the small, windowless room where he slept. The old mattress dipped beneath him on rusted, ancient bedsprings as he sat up, rubbing his hands over his face. 

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Arthur sighed and reached for the string connected to the single, bare bulb in the room. Dim light flooded the room, making him blink while his eyes adjusted. Gradually, the space came into focus. Single bed, a table and chair, a green trunk where he kept what few personal belongings he still had. 

He reached for the half full can of water sitting on the trunk and finished it off, wiping the bit that trickled down his beard away with the back of his hand. It was long now, almost to the collar of the dirty t-shirt he wore. 

He tossed the can in the bin in the corner and then stood and stretched the kinks out of his back. The bed was so bad that his back always hurt in the morning, making him feel much older than his twenty-two years. 

Arthur grimaced to himself. Today was the day. The decision had already been made; the caravan would be here today. But it was so hard to take the first step towards what he knew he had to do. 

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

The sound steeled his resolve. He reached for the scrap of leather he used to tie back his hair and tied the long, loose strands up on the top of his head out of the way. Then he sat down at the table and picked up his pencil, and began to write.

When the caravan came later that morning, he handed the sealed letter over, and when it left his hand, he said a silent goodbye to the last thing he still had from his old life. The only thing left he still held dear.

***  
“Hey, big guy. Time to get up.”

Smith had brought back a reply, and Arthur had a time and place to meet the Railroad agent he had contacted. Now it was just a matter of going. 

The radio still reported frequent courser and synth attacks throughout the Commonwealth, and he had seen signs of coursers in the area around the bunker. It was only a matter of time before they located M7-97 and recovered him. And Arthur couldn’t fight a courser and protect Danse at the same time. The only chance he had at a real life would be for Arthur to turn him over to the professionals at the Railroad, and say goodbye. 

Arthur helped Danse get dressed, tied his shoes, and fixed him breakfast. He packed the items they would need in a couple of packs, and then they headed out. 

“Where are we going, Arthur?”

“We’re going to Goodneighbor.”

“What’s Goodneighbor?”

“It’s a… town. Some people are going to help us.”

Arthur walked along for hours, and Danse continued to pepper him with questions. Finally, they arrived at the gates of Goodneighbor. He almost walked past the drifter leaning on the wall, but when the man looked at him and said, “Do you have a geiger counter,” Arthur stopped.

“It’s in the shop.” Arthur tentatively replied.

“This the package?”

“He’s not a package.” Arthur scowled.

The agent raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses. His eyebrow did not match his hair. He sighed. “Is this the _synth_ who needs help?”

“Yes.”

“Ok. Great. I’m Deacon. Just to confirm, you need us to wipe and relocate him, is that right?”

“Yes. I’m Arthur-”

“-Maxson. Yes, I know who you are. Erstwhile leader of the Brotherhood and hopeful Railroad recruit. Follow me.” They headed into Goodneighbor.

“I’m not a recruit.”

“We’ll see.” 

Arthur followed Deacon, with Danse trailing behind as they made their way through the streets of Goodneighbor to the Memory Den. Deacon introduced Arthur to Dr. Amari, who would perform the memory wipe. 

“This doctor is going to look at your brain, ok, big guy? Just get in this seat.”

Dr. Amari pulled Arthur aside. “So he’s had a memory wipe but no new memories implanted?”

“Yes. He’s functioning, but essentially like a child. I had to teach him to walk and talk.”

“Hm.. That’s unusual. I’m going to wipe him and implant new memories. He’ll come out completely different, and have no recollection of you. Deacon will deliver him to a new location and a new life. Did you want to wait?”

“No. But I’d like to say goodbye.”

He walked over to where Danse lay in the memory lounger. “Hey. This doctor is going to take care of you, ok? I’ll just be outside.” He stroked his hand through Danse’s hair one last time and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I love you,” he whispered, and then before he could change his mind, he turned and left. 

He heard the lounger shut as he walked out of the room and up the stairs, fighting back tears. He walked through the town, and nearly to the gate when he heard the shouting and turned around. 

“Arthur!” It was Deacon. “Dr. Amari needs you to come back right away.”

Arthur turned and quickly followed Deacon back to the Memory Den.

Dr. Amari met them at the door. “I thought you would want to know, you told me his memory was wiped, but it wasn’t. Someone just reset him, the memories are all still there. I can activate them if you want.”

“What-?”

“He won’t remember anything that happened since the recall code. It will be like only seconds had passed.”

“Yes! Yes do that!”

She made him wait outside and it was the longest hour of Arthur’s life as he paced the lobby. 

Finally, she came out and told him to come in.

The lounger opened, and Danse sat up. 

“What happened? Where am I? Lena…”

Arthur got to his knees in front of Danse, took his face in his hands and looked into his eyes. The blank gaze, the childlike stare, they were gone. In its place was the slightly troubled expression of the man he’d known most of his life, the man he loved.

“I’ll tell you later,” said Arthur, and then he kissed him.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never promised you a happy ending.... but I never promised you a sad one either. 
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me through this. It was a beast, it took over my life, and now it's free in the world. I hope you love it as much as I do. 
> 
> Please leave a comment, or come talk to me on [Tumblr](http://tessa1978.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> If you feel bad for Arthur, please go read Workaholic, it was my apology gift to him for putting him through all this. 
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/6219973

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Katlen for all beta reading, assistance with titles and names, and reassurance that the story needs to be written even if it's a miserable angst fest.
> 
> Thanks to Syrenpan for additonal beta reading, speculation, and cheerleading! You don't know much you helped me get to the end!


End file.
